Explanation of China Customs Document No. 43 on Related Matters with the Adjustment of Administrative Measures for Entry-Exit Personal Postal Articles

The General Administration of Customs of P. R. China recently released the Document No. 43, 2010 of Related Matters with the Adjustment of Administrative Measures for Entry-Exit Personal Postal Articles.

According to the Document, as of September 1, 2010, China Customs authorities shall impose import duty on entry personal postal articles according to laws, but exemption shall apply if the duty payable is no more than CNY 50.

For personal articles mailed to or from China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions, the limit value shall be CNY 800 each time; and for those to or from any other countries and regions, the limit value shall be CNY 1,000 each time.

China Customs previous regulations on the entry-exit duty exemptions for personal postal articles each time were below:

For personal articles mailed to or from China's Hong Kong and Macao regions, the limit value shall be CNY 800 each time, the duty exemption at CNY 400; and for those to or from any other countries and regions, the limit value shall be CNY 1,000 each time, the duty exemption at CNY 500. In the case of excess, only the exceeding amount shall be subject to import duty.

As per relevant stipulations, the new policy to be implemented as of September 1, 2010 will reduce the exemption threshold to CNY 50, therefore entry commodities by mail will be faced with relatively higher duties.

Take the milk-powder imported by mail as an example: the duty payable on milk-powder will change according to the adjustment of duty exemption for entry-exit personal postal articles. And the exemption norm for entry milk-powder shall reduce to current 1.8 kg from previous 25 kg.

In accordance with the latest norm for the dutiable quantity of milk-powder, and calculated by 900 grams per can, previously at most 27 cans of milk-powder can be mailed within the exemption limit, but now 2 cans at most free of duty after the adjustment.

This regulation will impact small foreign-trade orders and overseas purchasing agency to some extent. The affected enterprises include Ebay China and AliExpress, respectively the major enterprise and the emerging force in small foreign-trade orders.

According to China Customs officials, the State's adjustment of the Administrative Measures mainly aims to combat commercial smugglings by splitting the goods in the name of mailing personal articles to evade State's control and Customs duties.