China Customs Administrative Measures on Country of Origin of Import & Export Goods under China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement

The GACC hereby promulgates China Customs Administrative Measures on Country of Origin of Import & Export Goods under China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement, which were adopted on June 30, 2014 and shall enter into force on July 1, 2014.

China Customs Minister
June 30, 2014


Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with the Customs Law of the P. R. China, the Regulations of the P. R. China on Origin of Import & Export Goods, and the regulations in China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Article 2 These Measures are applicable to supervision over the origin of import and export goods under China-Switzerland FTA.

During the period of validity of the customs union treaty between Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein belongs to the customs territory of Switzerland.

Article 3 Where import goods are compliant with any of the following conditions, their country of origin shall be Switzerland:
(1) Totally acquired or manufactured within Swiss Customs territory;
(2) Manufactured within Switzerland by using raw materials originating in China or Switzerland;
(3) The used non-native materials are substantially transformed within Switzerland, i.e. compliant with the FTA’s Rules of Origin specific to products, such as change in tariff classification, non-native material value percentage, and manufacture processing;

The goods originating in Switzerland, where being directly transported to China from Swiss Customs territory, may be applied to the conventional tariff under this FTA in China’s Import & Export Tariffs.

Article 4 The goods that are"totally acquired or manufactured within Swiss Customs territory" refer to:
(1) Mineral or natural products extracted from the territory or waters of Switzerland and Liechtenstein;
(2) Plants and plant products harvested in Switzerland and Liechtenstein;
(3) Live animals bred in Switzerland and Liechtenstein and their products made therein;
(4) Products derived from hunting, fishing, collecting, or aquaculture in Switzerland and Liechtenstein;
(5) Fishes and products acquired from international waters by Switzerland-owned ships;
(6) Fishes and products acquired by Switzerland-owned factory ships from the processing of the products aforesaid in (5);
(7) Products extracted from the seabed or subsoil within Swiss customs territory, on which Switzerland has development rights by its domestic law;
(8) Scraps generated in Switzerland and Liechtenstein for the only purpose of raw material recycling;
(9) Used goods collected in Switzerland and Liechtenstein for the only purpose of raw material recycling;
(10) Products acquired from the processing of the products aforesaid in items (1)-(9) of this Article.

Article 5 The goods made in Switzerland with non-native materials, where being compliant with the FTA’s origin rule of non-native material value percentage, shall be regarded as the goods originating in Switzerland.

The non-native material value percentage shall be calculated in the following formula:

Non-native material value percentage = (Non-Native Material Price/Product Ex-factory Price) × 100%

Therein, the non-native materials prices are the import duty-paid value determined by Swiss customs upon import to Switzerland.

Article 6 Where the non-native materials are substantively processed within Switzerland into products which are used as the materials for another product, the non-native materials used therein shall not influence the origin qualification of such another product.

Article 7 The following minor processing do not constitute substantive transformation:
(1) Goods preservation processing;
(2) Freezing or unfreezing;
(3) Packaging and re-packaging;
(4) Washing, cleaning, dedusting, removal of oxide/oil/painting/other coatings;
(5) Textile ironing and pressing;
(6) Japanning and polishing;
(7) Corn and rice hulling, bleaching, polishing;
(8) Sugar coloring or caking;
(9) Fruits and vegetable peeling, denucleating, hulling;
(10) Sharpening, simple grinding or cutting;
(11) Filtering, screening, selecting, sorting, grading, matching, assembling;
(12) Simple bottling, canning, bagging, encasing, packing;
(13) Affixing or printing of label, tag, or mark on product or package;
(14) Simple mixture of products;
(15) Simple assembly or disassembly of products;
(16) Animal slaughter;

Article 8 Where a China-made product is used in Switzerland to manufacture another product and the final processing in Switzerland exceeds the (1) scope of Article 7 herein, such another product shall be regarded as originating in Swiss Customs territory.

Article 9 As regards a product made in Switzerland with non-native materials, where the non-native material price is within 10% of the product ex-factory price, the product shall be regarded as originating in Swiss Customs territory, but excluding the goods that are applicable to non-native material value percentage standard under the FTA rules.

Article 10 Any complete set of goods that are subject to one single HS item heading or subheading shall be identified as a whole in their origin.

The import goods in the same batch, including the same goods subject to one single HS item heading or subheading, shall be identified one-by-one in their respective origin.

Article 11 The origins of packing materials and containers of the import goods shall be identified as part of goods.

Article 12 The accessories, spare parts, descriptions or other information materials along with the goods shall be identified as part of goods for their origin.

Article 13 As regards the articles as below used in manufacture or inspection of the import goods, their origins shall not influence the identification of the origin of the import goods:

(1) fuel, energy, catalyst and solvent;
(2) testing or inspection equipment or device;
(3) glove, eyeglass, shoe, apparel, safety equipment;
(4) tool, mould and swage die;
(5) equipment maintenance materials;
(6) lubricant, grease, synthetic materials;
(7) other articles used in the manufacture or inspection process

Article 14 The regulations under Articles 3-13 shall be fulfilled within Swiss Customs territory.

Article 15 The inter-convertible materials used in import goods, whether originating in Switzerland or not, may be identified in their origin in accordance with Swiss Customs inventory management rules.

Article 16 The import goods under the FTA shall be directly transported to China from Switzerland without transit via other countries/regions.

The import goods, upon all of the following conditions, also shall be regarded as"directly transported" to China:

(1) No processing other than loading, unloading and adjustment of the goods is conducted in other countries/regions;
(2) The goods are under customs supervision of other countries/regions.

Article 17 The importers shall fill in China Customs Declaration Form for Import, declaring application of the FTA conventional tariff, by submission of the following documents:

(1) the valid original Certificate of Origin issued by Switzerland authority (see Annex 2) or original Declaration of Origin made by Switzerland approved exporters (see Annex 3);
(2) goods commercial invoice and related transport documents

Article 18 Where the importers fail to submit the origin certificate or declaration during their import declarations, they shall make up for the origin certificate or declaration before their customs formalities are concluded (see Annex 4).

As regards the make-up declarations, the customs may, upon importer’s application, release the goods after levying security deposit equivalent to tax payable, unless otherwise regulated by law.

Where the importers fail to make the origin declaration during import declaration, their goods shall not be applied to the FTA conventional tariff and shall be subjected to MFN duties, ordinary duties and import value-added tax.

Article 19 Upon all of the following conditions, the importers may, within six months from the date of security deposit, apply to the customs for return of the deposit:

(1) Upon import declaration, make-up declaration of the Switzerland origin has been made, declaring the application of the FTA conventional tariff;
(2) The origin certificate or declaration has been submitted along with other documents.

Article 20 The goods from Switzerland, where their duty-paid value is not more than USD 600, may be exempted from submission of the origin certificate or declaration, but excluding the imports in multiple times for circumvention.

Article 21 The submitted Certificate of Origin shall be compliant with all of the following conditions:
(1) Issued by Swiss authority before or at the time of export;
(2) Having security feature such as Switzerland signed/sealed notice to China Customs;
(3) Printed and filled in English;
(4) Valid within 12 months upon issue

Article 22 Where the Certificate of Origin fail to be issued before/upon export owing to force majeure, this Certificate may be reissued with a mark of"reissued" on it. And the reissued Certificate shall be valid within 12 months upon its issue.

Where an unused Certificate of Origin is lost or damaged, the importers may require Switzerland exporters to provide the copy certificate with the same validity as the original.

Article 23 The submitted Declaration of Origin shall be made by Switzerland approved exporters, affixed with their special seals, and printed on invoices, packing lists and other commercial documents and shall be compliant with all of the following conditions:

(1) Provided with the approved exporters’ authorization numbers and the Declaration serial numbers;
(2) Valid within 12 months upon the issue of commercial documents

Article 24 China Customs may propose to Switzerland authority for verification of the origin certificate or declaration within 36 months upon the issue of the certificate or declaration.

During the period of awaiting the verification result, the customs may, upon importer application, release the goods by levying security deposit that is equivalent to applicable MFN duties, ordinary import duties or other tax; after the verification, the customs shall, based on verification result, conduct return of the deposit or its conversion to import duties.

Article 25 Under any of the following circumstances, the import goods shall not be applied to the FTA conventional tariff:
(1) The origin certificate or declaration is not compliant with these Measures;
(2) Not compliant with Article 16 regulations herein;
(3) The origin certificate or declaration has untrue or incorrect information;
(4) The customs receive no result of origin verification within 6 months or agreed-on time limit, or the result received is not adequate to determine the authenticity of origin certificate or declaration or information.
(5) Other incompliance with these Measures

Article 26 As regards export declaration, the exporters from China shall fill in China Customs Declaration Form for Export and submit electronic Certificate/Declaration of Origin or its paper copy under the China-Switzerland FTA.

Article 27 As regards the in-transit import goods exported from Switzerland before the FTA effectiveness, where being compliant with Article 16 herein, the origin certificate or declaration may be re-issued within six months from the FTA effective date.

Article 28 Where origin information is printed on the import and export goods and their packages, the origin information shall be consistent with those identified as per these Measures.

Article 29 The customs shall keep confidential any business secrets acquired through these Measures, unless otherwise regulated by China law/regulations.

Article 30 Any violation of these Measures, including smuggling, violation of customs supervision or Customs Law, shall be subjected to China’s administrative penalty or even criminal penalty.

Article 31 Meanings of some terms herein:

Materials refer to the articles used to manufacture or transform to a kind of goods, including parts and components.
Production refers to planting, breeding, mining, harvesting, fishing, trapping, hunting, manufacturing, processing or assembly.
Substantive transformation means that the products made in Switzerland with its non-native materials are compliant with their standards specified in this FTA’s Rules of Origin.
Ex-factory price means the ex-factory price paid to an ultimate manufacturer/processor, containing all materials’ prices, wage, other expenses and profit minus export rebate;
Inter-changeable materials mean the alternative materials of the same kind or commercial quality, which are indistinguishable after being used in the production of final products.
Authority means the state-authorized agencies to issue the Certificate of Origin.

Article 32 These Measures shall be construed by the General Administration of Customs of China hereto.

Article 33 These Measures shall enter into force on July 1, 2014.

Annexes:
1. China Certificate of Origin (sample)
2. Swiss Certificate of Origin (sample)
3. Declaration of Origin (sample)
3. Statement of Origin Qualification (omitted)