The General Administration of Customs ("GAC") has recently issued the Announcement [2020] No.110, deciding to adjust the testing and supervision mode for imported crude oil to "release first and testing later". This announcement will take effect as of October 1, 2020.
According to the announcement, firstly, "release first" means that after the imported crude oil has been inspected on site by customs (information verification, sampling, etc.) and has met the requirements, the enterprise may proceed with the unloading and transshipment, while "testing later" means the laboratory testing and conformity assessment of imported crude oil. Secondly, the imported crude oil subject to "release first and testing later" may only be sold and used by an enterprise after it has passed the customs inspection and obtained a qualification certificate. Thirdly, where any major issue concerning security, sanitation, environmental protection or trade fraud is discovered during the testing and supervision, the customs will deal with such issue in accordance with the law, and adjust the testing and supervision mode in due time.