Customs Clearance Notice for Beijing Olympic Materials

China Customs is committed to providing Beijing Olympic Games with good service in all respects and is entitled to conduct control over Olympic materials entering or leaving China Customs territory (hereafter referred to as the territory) in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

 

This notice applies to the completion of Customs formalities and the payment of Customs duties and the taxes collected by Customs on behalf of other government departments for importation of all materials entering or leaving the territory (hereafter referred to as the inward and outward materials) for the Olympic Games, Paralympics, testing-games, torch relay and other related activities during Beijing Olympic Games and its preparation period.

 

The time for Beijing Olympic Games and its preparation period refer to the time starting from January 1st,, 2007 to October 17th,, 2008.

 

The variety, scope and quantity of materials for Beijing Olympic Games which enjoy exemption from or reduction of the Customs duties shall be, according to the relevant regulations of the State Council, declared by the Beijing Olympic Games Organization Committee to the Department of Finance and other departments concerned for checking and confirming. The materials which have arrived at the ports whereas the checking and confirming has not finished shall be inspected and released by the Customs against the documents and relevant effective security provided by the relevant authorities of Beijing Olympic Games Organization Committee.

 

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which hosts Equestrianism of Beijing Olympic Games, shall formulate and promulgate relevant regulations on Customs clearance separately.

 

Article I.  Temporary Inward Materials

 

A. Personal articles carried by individuals

 

Personal articles (including the carry-on equipment and materials for the games, medical instrument and relevant materials and etc.) carried by members of Olympic family shall be declared to the Customs.  Those directly used for Beijing Olympic Games shall be approved to enter temporarily and taken out of the territory after the Games.

 

Olympic officials and foreign governmental officials holding diplomatic or privileged visas shall enjoy the exemption from Customs inspection, while others are subject to make declaration to Customs. Those who has nothing to declare shall take the Green Channel (Nothing-to-Declare Channel) while those carrying something to declare shall follow the Red Channel (Goods-to-Declare Channel).

 

B. Materials entering as goods

 

All kinds of Physical instruments, competition appliances, technical equipment, medical equipment, security facilities, communication articles, TV-broadcasting and news-reporting instruments and the like entering as goods shall be released against deposit or letter of guarantee issued by bank together with documents presented by Beijing Olympic Games Organization Committee. For those requiring special approval, according to law, relevant approval documents shall be submitted in accordance with the provisions in Article III of this notice.

 

C. Time limit for temporary entry

 

The temporary inward materials for Beijing Olympic Games, with the approval of district customs, shall be re-transported out of the territory within one year after the date of the first entry. Under special circumstances, an extension may be granted upon the application to and approval from the local customs, but the deadline of re-transport shall not be late than March 2009.

 

D. The exemption from Customs duties shall be granted if temporary inward materials for Beijing Olympic Games shall:

 

(A) Re-exported within the designated time, or

 

(B) Be lost or destroyed with the documents presented by Beijing Olympic Games Organization Committee and relevant authorities and confirmed by local Customs.

 

Temporary inward materials shall, if not re-transported out of the territory within the designated time and not comply with above-mentioned conditions, be subject to Customs import formalities according to the regulations.

 

Article II. Inward Materials Exempted from Customs duties

 

The following inward materials shall be exempted from Customs duties according to the regulations of the State Council:

 

A. Articles for personal use

 

Articles for personal use which are used and consumed directly for Beijing Olympic Games.

 

B. Medicine

 

Medicine used directly for people and animals of Beijing Olympic Games.

 

C. Medals and badges

 

Symbolic articles such as cups, medals and the like.

 

D. Donated materials

 

The materials gratuitously donated by foreign governments or international organizations for Beijing Olympic Games.

 

E. Exhibited items

 

China Customs shall supervise and control the exhibited goods and articles in the exhibitions for Beijing Olympic Games in accordance with the relevant regulations:

 

(A) Articles consumed in exhibitions or other similar activities

 

(a) Small samples used in exhibitions or other similar activities (alcoholic drinks, cigarettes and the products made from them are excluded).

 

This kind of small samples meeting the following conditions shall be exempted from Customs duties:

 

① of low value and distributed to the public for free in these activities.

 

② not for commercial purpose and in a smaller package than the smallest one in the market.

 

③ consumed where the activities are held and without any commercial package for food and drinks.

 

④ within reasonable value and quantity in accordance with the type, participants and scale of the activities.

 

(b) Articles distributed for free and the printed matters (in the form of pamphlets, pricelists and etc.) in the exhibitions.

 

(c) Building materials of low value used for building exhibition sites or for other similar purposes.

 

(B) Samples of low value

 

Samples used to publicize or introduce the relevant products.

 

(C) Printed matters and advertisements (including catalogues, pricelists, pamphlets and commercial notifications) which are not prohibited from import and contain no banned contents.

 

To be used for Beijing Olympic Games directly and be distributed for free.

 

F. Printed matters and Audio and Video (A&V) articles

 

Document with non-commercial purpose, books, A&V articles and other articles used for Beijing Olympic Games directly which shall not be prohibited from import, without illegal contents and not be sold or circulated in Chinese domestic market.

 

G. Materials for transporting materials and animals

 

(A) All kinds of stuff (including strings, straws, textiles and etc.) used for packing and protecting (protection of temperature) materials, which usually can not be recycled.

 

(B) Straws, hays, fodders, feeding-stuff and other similar stuff used for transporting animals in China.

 

H. Personal postal items

 

Customs shall release, without levying any Customs duties, the postal items from abroad which are subject to Customs duties payment of no more than RMB 500 for each time and those from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan which are subject to Customs duties payment of no more than RMB 400 for each time. For those exceeding the permitted duty-free amount, Customs shall only levy Customs duties on the exceeding part.

 

I. Other consuming items directly used for competitions of Beijing Olympic Games

 

Consuming items directly used for competitions of Beijing Olympic Games which have entered the ports before the lists of duty-free materials are approved and publicized by relevant department shall be inspected and released by Customs against the documents presented by Beijing Olympic Games Organization Committee and deposit in full or bank’s letter of guarantee submitted by importers.

 

J. Items for personal use, small gifts and items for propaganda without commercial purpose which are of the Olympic family members and directly used within the Olympic Games shall enjoy Customs duties exemption. The list is as follows:

 

(A) Items for personal use

 

Food, beverage, medicine, tobacco, alcohol, book, disc, costume, shoes and hat, items for cleaning, items for kitchen, toys, film, battery, paper, stationary, computer, PDA, DV, camera, lens, telescope, cell phone, MP3, recoding pen, etc.

 

(B) Gift

 

Handcraft, souvenir, textile (costume, shoes, hat, etc), chocolate, small toy, key chain (buckle), stationary, etc.

 

(C) Items for propaganda

 

Poster, propaganda booklet, disc, etc.

 

The above mentioned inward materials are of the 20 commodities which shall not enjoy Customs duties exemption and thus shall be taken out of the territory after the Beijing Olympics, otherwise Customs duties shall be paid according to relevant regulations. Tobacco and alcoholic products shall be dealt with appropriately according to the current regulations.

 

K. The Customs formalities of the materials listed in Provision J shall be completed according to the regulation of Temporary Inward Material in Article I if they enter the territory through the goods transportation channel intensively.

 

Article III. Temporary Inward Materials which Need Special Approval according to the Laws

 

A. Animals, plants and their products

 

The entry of the animals, plants and their products shall comply with laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China concerning the protection of animals and plants, plant sanitation as well as the relevant international conventions.

 

The entry animals, plants and their products shall be examined by Inspection and Quarantine administrations in accordance with relevant provisions. And according to the regulations, the following articles are prohibited from being carried in or mailed in:

 

The catalogue of plants prohibited from being carried in or mailed in are as follows: Corn seeds, bean seeds, potato tubers and their reproducing materials, the seedling and cutting of the genus elm, the seedling and slips of the genus pine, the buds, seedling and seeds of the genus rubber, the reproducing materials and tobacco leaves of the genus tobacco, wheat, fruits, eggplants, capsicum, tomato fruits, pathogenic micro-organisms of plants (including microbial strain, toxic strain), pests, harmful organisms and other genetically modified organisms, soil.

 

The catalogue of animals prohibited from being carried in or mailed in are as follows: chickens, ducks, geese, golden pheasants, owls, pigeons, quails, birds, hares, big white mice, small mice, guinea pigs, squirrels, chipmunks, frogs, snakes, tortoises, turtles, lizards, crocodiles, earthworms, snails, fishes, shrimps, crabs, monkeys, pangolins, lynxes, bees, silkworms, etc.; semen, embryos, fertilized eggs, silkworm eggs, fresh meat, smocked meat, sausage, ham, pickled meat, bacon, eggs, aquatic animal products, fresh milk, cheese, butter, cream, whey powder, raw hides and skin, hair, hoofs, bones, horns, blood, blood powder, fats and oils, viscera, etc.; microbial strain, toxic strain, worm strain, cells, serum, animal specimens, animal carcasses, animal waste and other articles possible to be polluted by the pathogenic micro-organisms.    

 

B. Wild animals and plants

 

The import (entry) and export (exit) of the wild animals and plants shall comply with the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China concerning the protection of wild animals and the relevant international conventions.

 

The export of wild animals and plants under special state protection or the products thereof, and the import or export of wild animal and plants or the products thereof whose import or export is restricted by international conventions to which China is a party, must be approved by the competent authorities of wildlife under the State Council or by the State Council, and an import and export permit must be obtained from the state administration in charge of the import and export of the endangered species. Customs shall clear the imports or exports against the import or export permit.

 

C. Food and beverage

 

The entry of the food and beverage shall comply with the relevant laws and regulations of health.

 

According to the regulations concerning the food quarantine of China, certain kinds of food are prohibited from importation. The inward Food and beverages, carried by members of the Olympic family and used directly for and within the preparation and host of Beijing Olympic Games, shall be released against relevant certificate issued by the Beijing Olympic Games Organization Committee. The food and beverage shall receive the quarantine in advance if necessary according to relevant regulations.

 

Customs shall, against the Import Goods Declaration Card issued by the inspection and quarantine administrations, inspect and release the food and beverage which are not mentioned above.

 

D. Medicine

 

The entry of the medicine shall comply with the laws and regulations concerning the medicine control.

 

The medicine carried by the members of the Olympic family shall be used personally and directly for Beijing Olympic Games. The remaining part shall be re-exported in time after the Games. The medicine carried in by the delegation as unaccompanied baggage shall be used only by the members of the delegation. The remaining part shall be re-exported in time after the Games.

 

E. Firearms and ammunition used for the Games

 

The entry of the firearms and ammunition used for the Games shall comply with the laws and regulations concerning the firearms and ammunition control of the People’s Republic of China. All the entry of the firearms and ammunition into China shall be approved by public security administrations in China.

 

The firearms shall be transported in separation from the ammunition and people. The related parties or persons shall adhere to the regulations concerning the firearms and ammunition. The firearms and the remaining part of the ammunition shall be re-exported after the Games.

 

F. Radio transmission equipment and instruments

 

The Customs formalities of the radio transmission equipment and instruments shall be completed against the permission by the concerned state authorities in charge of wireless control; those Customs formalities of the television outside broadcast equipment and vehicles shall be handled with the permit issued by the relevant administrative department.

 

G. The reporting equipment of the reporters from abroad

 

The Customs shall deal with the clearance formalities of the news-reporting equipment carried into China by foreign reporters according to the Regulation on News-reporting of Foreign Reporters during the Beijing Olympic Games and its Preparation Period and other relevant regulations.

 

H. The ground- receiving equipment of the satellite television

 

The entry formalities of the ground-receiving equipment of the satellite television shall be completed against the permission by the State Broadcasting and Television Administration.

 

I. The materials in wooden package

 

The entry of materials in wooden package shall comply with the laws and regulations concerning the inspection and quarantine of the People’s Republic of China.

 

J. The inward means of foreign transportation

 

The entry of means of foreign transportation shall comply with the laws and regulations of the Ministry of Public Security and the relevant authorities of the People’s Republic of China.

 

Article IV. Materials Prohibited from Entry

 

 

 

A. Drugs

 

Opium, morphine, heroin, marijuana and other addictive drugs and psychotropic substances (those imported for medical purpose under special circumstances shall be approved by relevant departments).

 

B. Arms, imitation arms, ammunitions and explosives of all kinds (those for the Games are excluded).

 

C. Animals, plants and the products thereof which contain dangerous virus, pests and other harmful creatures.

 

D. Printed matters, tapes and A&V discs, storage media for computers and other articles which are harmful to the political, economic, cultural and moral interests of China.

 

E. Deadly poison of all kinds.

 

F. Food, medicines and other articles coming from epidemic stricken areas and harmful to man and livestock or those capable of spreading diseases.

 

G. Counterfeit currencies and negotiable securities.

 

H. Commodities which infringe upon intellectual and industrial property rights.

 

I. Other articles prohibited from importation in accordance with laws and regulations of China.

 

Article V. Inward Materials under Formal Circumstances

 

Except for above-mentioned temporary inward goods, equipments and articles or those approved of Customs duties exemption according to relevant regulations, other entry materials shall be subject to import licensing documents and payment of Customs duties in accordance with the relevant regulations. 

 

 

 

Article VI. Leasehold Materials for Beijing Olympic Games

 

Leasehold materials for Beijing Olympic Games, which comply with the duty-free import policies for Beijing Olympic materials approved by the State Council, shall be dealt with in accordance with the relevant provisions of Temporary Inward Materials in this notice. Other leasehold materials shall be handled according to the regulations concerning the import of leasehold goods.

 

Article VII. Other Provisions

 

A. Recommended entry ports

 

The following ports are recommended by China Customs as inward and outward ports of materials for Beijing Olympic Games:

 

(A) Airports: Beijing Capital international airport, Qingdao Liuting international airport, Tianjin Binhai international airport, Shanghai Pudong international airport and Shenyang Taoxian international airport.

 

(B) Shipping ports: Shanghai Port, Tianjin Port, Qingdao Port, Dalian Port and Qinhuangdao Port.

 

(C) Land ports: Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

 

B. Lists of materials submitted in advance

 

For the facilitation of those materials, lists of articles carried or transported by delegations shall be submitted to Beijing Olympic Games Organization Committee or designated agencies at least three months before their arrival.

 

C. Customs clearance models for materials

 

The model of sealing at ports and inspecting and releasing at destination may be adopted for part of materials for Beijing Olympic Games.

 

China Customs shall exercise control over inward and outward materials in accordance with Customs Law of the People’s Republic of China, Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Duties and relevant laws, administrative regulations and provisions. Those failing to complete the Customs formalities of inward and outward materials for Beijing Olympic Games shall be punished by Customs in accordance with Implementing Regulation of the Customs on Administrative Penalties of the Peoples Republic of China and relevant provisions.

 

This notice shall not influence the implementation of new laws and regulations on Customs supervision.