Laws of the People's Republic of China

Customs General Administration

Order of the Customs General Administration of the People's Republic of China

No.107

The Provisions of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Executing the Rules of Origin for Trade in Goods under the Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, which were deliberated and adopted at the executive meeting of this Administration on December 24th, 2003, are hereby promulgated and shall be implemented as of January 1st, 2004.

Mou Xinsheng, Director of the Customs General

December 30th, 2003

Provisions of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on Executing the Rules of Origin for Trade in Goods under the Mainland/Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement

Article 1

In order to promote the economic and trade activities between the mainland and Macao, and to correctly determine the origin of the imported goods under the Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (hereinafter referred to as CEPA), the present Provisions are formulated in accordance with the Customs Law and the CEPA.

Article 2

The present Provisions shall be applied to the goods imported from Macao under the CEPA (see the Customs Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China for details of the list of goods), however, the goods imported by the way of processing trade shall be excluded.

Article 3

With respect to any goods directly imported from Macao under the CEPA, the origin thereof shall be determined in light of the following principles:

1)

With regard to any goods fully obtained in Macao, the origin thereof shall be Macao; and

2)

With regard to any goods not fully obtained in Macao, the origin thereof may be determined as Macao only if such goods have gone through substantial processing in Macao.

Article 4

"Goods fully obtained in Macao" used in Item 1) of Article 3 in the present Provisions refers to:

1)

Mineral products exploited or extracted in Macao;

2)

Plants or their products harvested or collected in Macao;

3)

Live animals borne and bred in Macao;

4)

Products obtained in Macao from the animals mentioned in Item 3) of this Article;

5)

Products obtained from hunting or fishing in Macao;

6)

The aquatic and other marine products obtained from the high sea by ships with the license of Macao and hanging the regional flag of the Macao Special Administrative Region;

7)

Products obtained from processing of the products mention in Item 6) of this Article on the ships with the license of Macao and hanging the regional flag of the Macao Special Administrative Region;

8)

Discarded and waste materials collected in Macao that are generated in the course of consumption in Macao and that are fit only for recycling of raw materials;

9)

Waste and piecemeal materials that are generated in the course of processing and manufacturing in Macao and that are fit only for the recycling of raw materials; and

10)

Products obtained from processing of the products mentioned in Items 1) through 9) of this Article.

Article 5

The following processing or disposal, no matter whether they are finished separately or conjunctly, shall all be deemed as minor processing and disposal, and shall be disregarded in determining whether the goods are fully obtained:

1)

Processing or disposal conducted for the transport or storage of goods;

2)

Processing or disposal conducted for the convenience of the carriage of goods; and

3)

Processing or disposal, such as packing or display, etc., conducted for the sale of goods.

Article 6

"Substantial processing" as used in Item 2) of Article 3 in the present Provisions shall be determined by using the criterion of "manufacturing or processing operation", criterion of "change of tax code", criterion of "ad valorem percentage", "other criteria" or "combined criteria", and the determination shall be carried out according to the Table of the Criteria of Origin for the Goods of Macao Entitled to Preferential Treatment for Trade in Goods. That table shall be part of the present Provisions and be separately promulgated by the Customs General Administration.

1)

"Manufacturing or processing operation" refers to the major operation that endows the goods obtained after the processing with the basic characteristics. Where such an operation is finished in Macao, it shall be deemed that substantial processing has been conducted.

2)

"Change of tax code" refers to that where any material of which the origin is not Macao are processed within Macao, the four-figure tax category of the processed products in the Customs Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China has changed, and such products are not to go through any production, processing or manufacturing that will change their four-figure tax category in any country or region other than Macao.

3)

"Ad valorem percentage" refers to the percentage that the total value of the raw materials, components, and labor obtained in Macao and the product development cost account for in the FOB price of the export products. In case such a percentage is 30% or more, and the final manufacturing or processing operation of the products is finished within Macao, substantial processing shall be deemed as being conducted. See the formula below:

(Value of raw materials + value of components + value of labor + cost for product development) / FOB price of the export product ¡Ý30%

a.

"Product development" refers to the product development carried out within Macao for producing or processing the relevant export products. The cost for product development must be related to those export products, including the cost for development by the producer or processor himself/itself, the sum paid for development by the entrusted natural person or legal person within Macao, and the sum paid for purchase of the design, patent, know-how, trademark right or copyright owned by any natural person or legal person within Macao. Such cost shall be able to be clearly determined in light of the generally accepted accounting standards and relevant international practice.

b.

Calculation of the "ad valorem percentage" shall be according to the generally accepted accounting standards and relevant international practice.

4)

"Other criteria" refers to the methods other than the aforesaid criteria of "manufacturing and processing operation", "change of tax code" and "ad valorem percentage" for determining the origin that are agreed upon by both authorities of the mainland and Macao.

5)

"Combined criteria" refers to two or more aforesaid criteria that are used at the same time in determining the origin.

Article 7

Simple dilution, mixing, packing, bottling, drying, assembling, classification or decoration shall not be deemed as substantial processing.

Any processing or pricing measure aiming to avoid the present Provisions shall not be deemed as substantial processing.

Article 8

The producing areas of the energy, plants, equipment, machines, and tools used in the manufacturing of the goods, as well as the producing areas of the components that are not part of the goods and those of the materials of such components, shall be disregarded in determining the origin of goods.

Article 9

The packages, package materials, and containers, as well as the attachments, spare parts, tools, and introductory materials, that are declared for import along with the goods and that are included in the Customs Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China shall be disregarded in determining the origin of the goods.

Article 10

The goods imported under the CEPA shall be transported from Macao directly to the ports of the mainland.

Where any import goods is transported from Macao to mainland via Hong Kong and where the following conditions are met at the same time, they shall be deemed as being transported directly from Macao:

1)

Simply due to geographic reasons or transport needs;

2)

Not being traded or consumed in Hong Kong; and

3)

Not going through any processing in Hong Kong other than such processing needed for loading and unloading and for keeping the goods in good conditions.

Article 11

In customs declaration of the goods imported under the CEPA, the consignee shall voluntarily declare to the customs office that zero tariff shall be applied to those goods, and shall submit a valid certificate of origin that are in line with the Procedures for Issuing and Checking of the Certificate of Origin under the CEPA.

With regard to the import goods that are transported to a port of mainland via Hong Kong, the consignee shall, apart from meeting the provisions of the preceding paragraph, supplement the following documents to the customs office of the place where the goods are declared:

1)

The through bill of lading issued in Macao;

2)

The invoice of the goods issued by the original producer; and

3)

Relevant certificates conforming to the second paragraph of Article 10 of the present Provisions.

Article 12

Where the certificate of origin is valid upon network check, the customs office shall go through the import formalities of those goods at zero tariff. Where certificate is invalid upon the check, zero tariff shall not be applicable.

Where the customs office of the place where the goods are declared can not make the network check due to certain reasons, and the consignee require clearance of the goods, the customs office may release those goods after collecting a security of the value equal to the amount of taxes payable at the rate applied to those goods if they are not under the CEPA, go through the import formalities and make the customs statistics. The customs office of the place where the goods are declared shall, within 90 days as of the day of clearance of those goods, verify the validity of its certificate of origin, and refund the security or change the security to tariff in light of the result of the verification, and shall modify the customs statistics data correspondingly.

Article 13

Where the customs office of the place where the goods are declared has doubted over the validity of the contents of the certificate of origin, it may put forward a request through Customs General Administration or a customs office authorized thereof to the Macao Customs or Macao Economic Services for assistance in the verification. During the period when the Macao Customs or Macao Economic Services makes the verification for confirmation of the relevant certificate of origin, the customs office of the place where the goods are declared may release those goods after collecting a security of the value equal to the amount of taxes payable at the rate applied to those goods if they are not under the CEPA, go through the import formalities and make the customs statistics. After the Macao Customs or Macao Economic Services finishes the verification, the customs office of the place where the goods are declared shall, in light of the result of the verification, immediately refund the security or change the security to import tariff, and modify the customs statistics data correspondingly.

Article 14

The customs offices have the obligation to keep confidential of the materials provided by the consignee of the import goods for verifying the certificate of origin. Without the consent of the consignee, the customs offices may not disclose those materials or use them for any other purpose, but apart from the otherwise provisions prescribed in the laws, administrative regulations and relevant judicial interpretations.

Article 15

The customs offices shall deal with any act in violation of the present Provisions in accordance with the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China and the Implementing Rules of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for Administrative Punishment. If any crime has been constituted, the criminal liabilities shall be prosecuted for in jure.

Article 16

The responsibility to interpret the present Provisions shall remain with the Customs General Administration.

Article 17

The present Provisions shall be implemented on January 1st, 2004.