The General Administration of Customs ("GAC") has recently issued the Announcement on Matters Concerning the Consolidation of Enterprises' Qualifications for Customs Declaration and Declaration for Inspection and Quarantine (the "Announcement"), with effect from April 20, 2018.
The Announcement expressly states that, the record-filing formalities for enterprises declaring inspection and quarantine on their own, and those for consignees and consigners of imported and exported goods, will be merged into the record-filing formalities for consignees and consigners of imported and exported goods; also, the record-filing formalities for declaration agencies for inspection and quarantine, and the registration formalities for customs declaration enterprises or the record-filing formalities for branches of customs declaration enterprises, will be consolidated into the registration formalities for customs declaration enterprises and the record-filing formalities for branches of customs declaration enterprises; further, the record-filing formalities for individuals submitting the declaration for inspection and quarantine, and those for customs declaration personnel, are combined into the record-filing formalities for declaration personnel. According to the Announcement, from April 20, 2018, an enterprise will simultaneously become qualified for the customs declaration and the declaration for inspection and quarantine, once it has registered itself or filed a record with the customs. If an enterprise has already completed the registration or record-filing for customs declaration or declaration for inspection and quarantine with the customs office and the original authority of inspection and quarantine, it does not need to go through relevant formalities with the customs, and its original qualification for customs declaration and declaration for inspection and quarantine will remain valid.