For the purposes of promoting trade safety and convenience, and enhancing enterprises' predictability of the import and export trade activities, the General Administration of Customs has issued the Interim Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China for the Administration of Pre-ruling (hereinafter referred to as the “Pre-ruling Measures”). According to the needs of import and export enterprises to understand the classification of the imported commodity samples in advance, the relevant matters concerning the pre-classification consulting services of the imported commodity samples (hereinafter referred to as the “pre-classification consulting service”) are announced as follows:

Article 1. The applicant for pre-classification consulting service shall be the consignee of imported goods.

Article 2. The applicant may apply for pre-classification consulting services to the customs directly under the place of import for the following samples of commodities:

(1) Import commodities that have completed pre-assessment of safety and quality in the manner of pre-shipment inspection, etc. That is, commodities with pre-evaluation certificate of quality and safety before shipment;

(2) Imported commodity samples to be imported. That is, before the enterprise imports the commodities in bulk, imports a small amount of the same commodities used for statutory inspection purposes in advance.

Article 3. The applicant who applies for a pre-classification consulting service shall, via the “Internet + Customs” Platform or “Single Window”, submit an Application for The Pre-Classification Consultation of Imported Commodity Samples and relevant materials that meet the classification of commodity samples and the requirements of Article 2 of this announcement.

Article 4. The Customs shall reply the consultation result within 20 days after accepting Application for The Pre-Classification Consultation of Imported Commodity Samples and relevant materials.

Article 5. The results of pre-classification consulting services are only for reference. If the classification items with legal effect need to be determined in advance, please proceed according to the “Pre-ruling Measures”.

Article 6. When the Customs Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China, the Commodities and Headings of the Customs Import and Export Tariff Schedule, the Domestic Subheading Annotations of the Customs Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China and commodity classification decision are changes, the results of pre-classified consulting services will be invalid, and the applicant may submit the application for consultation again.

Article 7. If the applicant needs to apply for pre-ruling, the application shall still be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of “Pre-ruling Measures”.

Article 8. This announcement shall be interpreted by the General Administration of Customs.

Article 9. This announcement will take effect on December 20, 2019.