GACC Announcement No.15, 2015 (on Revising Formula Pricing of Import Goods for Duty-Paid Value Determination)

To standardize the determination of duty-paid value for import goods with formula-based pricing, relevant Customs regulations are hereby announced:

1. The formula-based pricing means that, in a contract for selling goods within China, the buyer and the seller give no specific value to set commodity price, but provide a pricing formula to set the settlement price.

2. Regarding import goods meeting all of the following conditions, the Customs shall determine the duty-paid value against the settlement price set through the pricing formula made between the buyer and the seller:

(1) Before shipment to China, the buyer and the seller have agreed in writing on the pricing formula;
(2) The settlement price is dependent on objective conditions and factors out of control by both the buyer and the seller;
(3) Within six months upon import declaration, the settlement price can be set by pricing formula;
(4) The settlement price is compliant with the regulations on transaction price set forth by Customs evaluation measures

3. A taxpayer shall, before the import of first goods under formula-based pricing contract, apply in writing for registration to local Customs; the Customs will finish the registration within five workdays after collection of applicant documents, and issue Form of Customs Registration of Formula-based Pricing Contract (see Annex 1) to the compliant applicants. Such registration results are to be recognized across nationwide Customs, without the need of repetitive registration.

Where the settlement price can be determined at the time of import, the taxpayer may dispense with the registration of the formula-based pricing contract.

4. The taxpayer shall submit the following documents for the contract registration:
(1) Import contract (including long-term contract);
(2) Documents on pricing formula-relevant pricing norm, pricing period, settlement period, discount and other price-influencing factors, and import port, batch, quantity and other information;
(3) Other materials required.

5. The Customs will, after verification, indicate in the Registration Form that the duty-paid value should be determined as per settlement price, regarding the formula-priced goods in compliance with Article 2 herein; otherwise the Customs will indicate in the Registration Form that the duty-paid value should be determined as per Customs Evaluation Measures.

6. Where failing to register in advance, the taxpayer shall apply for the contract registration at the time of import declaration.

7. Where the registered contract changes, the taxpayer shall re-register with local Customs before its import declaration and the Customs will finish the re-registration within five workdays.

8. When the taxpayer declares the import of formula-priced goods, it shall provide accurate registration number in the remarks column of the declaration form (see Annex 2), and provide required documents for determining duty-paid value of goods.

9. Where the settlement price cannot be determined within six months, the Customs will determine the duty-paid value as per Customs Evaluation Measures; in special cases, the settlement period may be prolonged to nine months.

10. The taxpayer shall, within 10 workdays after the settlement price is determined, submit to the Customs the documents used for determining the settlement price and undertake relevant formalities.

11. When the formula pricing contract is completed, the Customs will conduct total verification-cancel procedure. Where actual import quantity is largely different from registered quantity, even beyond reasonable More Or Less scope, the Customs shall re-examine the contract terms and may re-evaluate the prices when appropriate.

12. Where the taxpayer has registered as per GACC Announcement No.11 of 2006 before this Announcement enters into force, and will continue to implement the registered contract after this Announcement enters into force, the taxpayer shall re-undertake registration formalities before this Announcement enters into force.

This Announcement shall enter into force on May 1, 2015 along with simultaneous repeal of GACC Announcement No.11 of 2006.


General Administration of Customs of China (GACC)
April 28, 2015


Annex 1: Form of Customs Registration of Formula-based Pricing Contract (omitted)
Annex 2: Declaration Form Filling Requirements