Decree of the General Administration of Customs No.170

The Measures of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China for the Classified Management of Enterprises, which were deliberated and adopted at the executive meeting of the General Administration of Customs on January 4, 2008, are hereby promulgated and shall enter into force as of April 1, 2008. The Measures of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China for Implementing Classified Management over Enterprises promulgated by Decree No.71 of the General Administration of Customs on March 31, 1999 and the Provisions on Examination and Approval of the Application of Convenient Customs Clearance Measures by Large-scale High and New Technology Enterprises promulgated by Decree No.86 of the General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on July 20, 2001 shall be abolished simultaneously.

Measures of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China for the Classified Management of Enterprises.

Article 17
An enterprise, which accords with Article 6 (1) and (2) or Article 12 (1) and (2) of these Measures, may file an application for the management category of AA with the Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs via the Customs at the place of its registration, and simultaneously submit the following documents:
(1)A Written Application for the Management Category of AA;
(2)A Report on Business Management Status; and
(3)An Audit report issued by an accounting firm for the previous year.

Article 18
An enterprise, which accords with Article 7 or 13 of these Measures, may file an application for the management category of A with the Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs via the Customs at the place of its registration, and simultaneously submit the following documents:
(1)A Written Application for the Management Category of A; and
(2)A Report on Business Management Status.

Article 19
After acceptance of an application for the management category of AA or A as filed by an enterprise, in case the documents submitted by the enterprise are complete and in statutory forms upon examination, the Customs at the place of registration shall make a Written Decision on Acceptance of the Application for the Classified Management of Enterprises on the spot and report it to the Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs for examination and approval.
The Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs shall make a decision on approval or disapproval of the application within six months after acceptance for an application for the management category of AA.

The Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs shall make a decision on approval or disapproval of the application within three months after acceptance for an application for the management category of A.

Article 20
Where an enterprise applying for the management category of AA or A is under any of the following circumstances, the Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs shall return its application and make a decision on disapproval of it:
(1)Failing to satisfy the requirements as prescribed in these Measures at the time of application;
(2)Failing to satisfy the requirements as prescribed in these Measures during the period of examination; or
(3)Being suspected of smuggling or violating the provisions on customs supervision and control during the period of examination, or being under criminal investigation or investigation due to the infringement on intellectual property rights..

Article 21
Where an enterprise in the management category of C has not committed any act prescribed in Article 8 or 14 of these Measures for one year since the Customs made the decision on adjustment of its management category, the Customs may adjust its management category into B upon application of the enterprise.
Where an enterprise in the management category of D has not committed any act prescribed in Article 9 or 15 of these Measures for one year since the Customs made the decision on adjustment of its management category, the Customs may adjust its management category into C upon application of the enterprise.

Article 22
Where an enterprise in the management category of C or D applies for adjustment into the management category of B or C, it shall submit a Written Application for Adjustment of the Management Categories of Enterprises to the Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs via the Customs at the place of its registration. In case the documents submitted by the enterprise are complete and in statutory forms upon examination, the Customs at the place of registration shall make a Written Decision on Acceptance of the Application for the Classified Management of Enterprises on the spot and report it to the Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs for examination and approval.
The Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs shall make a decision on approval or disapproval of the application within one month after acceptance.

Article 23
Where an enterprise is under any of the following circumstances and shall be degraded, the Customs shall, after discovery of the circumstance, make a new decision on the management category for the enterprise according to the provisions of Chapter II of these Measures:
(1)An enterprise in the management category of AA or A fails to meet relevant requirements for the original management category;
(2)An enterprise in the management category of B is under any of the circumstances for the management category of C or D; or
(3)An enterprise in the management category of C is under any of the circumstances for the management category of D.

Article 24
Where a decision is made by the Customs directly under the General Administration of Customs to or not to adjust the management category of an enterprise, the Customs at the place of registration shall serve the relevant decision on the enterprise within ten workdays after the decision is made.
As of the day when an adjustment decision is made, the Customs shall implement corresponding management measures over the enterprise in light of the adjusted management category.

Article 25
Where an enterprise in the management category of AA or A is suspected of smuggling and is being placed on file for criminal investigation or investigation, the Customs shall suspend corresponding management measures for its management category; and the enterprise shall be subject to the management measures for enterprises in the category of B during the period of the foresaid suspension.

Article 26
Where an enterprise only changes its name or registered customs ID, it may continuously be subject to its original management category; however, if it is under any of the following circumstances, its management category shall be adjusted in the following methods:
(1)In case the enterprise is split off, and the surviving enterprise after split-off will inherit main rights and obligations or main creditor’s rights and debts of the enterprise before split-off, it shall be subject to the management category of the enterprise before split-off; and other enterprises produced through the split-off shall be regarded as enterprises of initial registration;
(2)In case an enterprise is split up, the enterprises produced through the split-up shall be regarded as enterprises of initial registration;
(3)In case an enterprise is merged, it shall be subject to the management category of the surviving enterprise after merger; and
(4)In case an enterprise is consolidated, the consolidated enterprise shall be regarded as an enterprise of initial registration.
Chapter IV Implementation of Management Measures

Article 27
Where a declaration enterprise engages in declaration business on behalf of a consignee or consigner of import or export goods, the Customs shall separately implement corresponding management measures in light of the management categories applied by the declaration enterprise and the consignee or consigner of import or export goods.
In case the management measures to be implemented over the enterprises in different management categories are conflicting with each other, the Customs shall implement management measures in the following methods:

(1)In case the declaration enterprise or the consignee or consigner of import or export goods is in the category of C or D, the corresponding management measures for the lower management level shall be implemented; and
(2)In case both the declaration enterprise and the consignee or consigner of import or export goods are in the management category of B or above, the corresponding management measures for the management category of the declaration enterprise shall be implemented.

Article 28
Where the management category of a processing and trading enterprise is different from that of a production enterprise undertaking commission processing, the Customs shall implement corresponding management measures for the lower management level to the foresaid processing and trading business.
Chapter V Supplementary Rules

Article 29
The time of the crime of smuggling shall be the day when the criminal judgment made by the people’s court enters into force.
The time of smuggling, import or export of goods infringing on intellectual property rights or violation of the provisions on customs supervision and control shall be the day when the written decision on customs administrative punishment enters into force.

Article 30
The warning and the fine of less than 10,000 Yuan for an act against the provisions on customs supervision and control may not be taken as the records for appraisal of the management categories of enterprise.

Article 31
The meanings of the following terms and expressions used in these Measures are:
The term “other enterprises” refers to the enterprises engaging in businesses directly related to the import and export activities as prescribed by the General Administration of Customs, excluding the consignees and consigners of import or export goods and the declaration enterprises as registered at the Customs.