The General Administration of Customs ("GAC") has recently issued the Announcement on Abolishing the Integrated Regional Customs Clearance Mode (the "Announcement"), with immediate effect.
The Announcement makes it clear that the integrated regional customs clearance mechanism is eliminated and all customs offices will no longer accept business in this regard. Further, the Announcement stipulates that the reform of cross-border quick customs clearance is expanded to all directly subordinated customs in Guangdong Provinces, based on the use of highway manifests. Additionally, the Announcement sets out that where imported and exported goods transmitted between customs offices enter into or leave the territory of China through the waterway, airway, railway or highway, and these goods are transported by road within the territory of China, the customs offices may offer paperless operation of highway transit, in addition to the application of Internet of Things equipment, such as the safety smart lock, front-end equipment of the "frontier" and global positioning system (GPS), and the control and network information system for the "frontier".