The General Administration of Customs ("GAC") has recently issued the Announcement [2019] No.46 to publish the criteria for determining the financial status indicators outlined in the Customs Certified Enterprises Standards.
The announcement shows that the criteria cover two types of standards, namely the standard to determine the accounting information and the standard to determine the overall financial status. The latter is further divided into four parts respectively clarifying the standard to determine the "overall financial status", the standard to determine the "debt-to-assets ratio" and the "overall score", formulas used to calculate relevant indicators, and the point assigned to each indicator. The announcement expressly states that, to apply for customs certification, an enterprise shall submit the audit report issued by an accounting firm for the current year; however, an enterprise is required to submit audit reports issued by accounting firms for each year after it becomes a certified enterprise or after its most recent re-certification, if it applies for re-certification. The customs will determine whether the standard for "accounting information" is met, as per circumstances set out in this announcement. According to the announcement, an enterprise will be identified as an advanced certified enterprise or a general certified enterprise, depending on the total points it earns for relevant indicators. The minimum score for each financial indicator, at which an enterprise will be considered excellent, good, average, below average, or unaccepted, could be found in the Minimum Scores for Financial Indicators for Various Industries.