Xiamen Issues ECFA Certificate of Origin

The mainland's first ECFA Certificate of Origin was issued by the Xiamen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau on January 1, allowing the export of 940 cartons of joss sticks and incense powder worth nearly 17,800 U.S. dollars to Taiwan in line with the Early Harvest Program of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The certificate receiver is Xiamen For-Tune Import & Export Co., Ltd.

The tariff on the goods in Taiwan will be reduced from 5% to 2.5% at present. Under the ECFA, preferential tariff is adopted for the mainland's commodities with ECFA certificate of origin.

According to the bureau's officials, the implementation of the Early Harvest Program has received strong response from exporters in Xiamen. Since staging of the ECFA, a lot of businesses, including For-Tune, have consulted on the issues concerning C/O application. Seeing that the company was not familiar with the relevant procedures, the bureau arranged for staff members to offer technical guidance, set up green channel, and worked overtime to help it get the certificate as soon as possible.

The cross-Straits trade keeps continuous growth with the implementation of the ECFA. The bureau has taken various measures to ensure the smooth release of the products under the Early Harvest Program. To speed up the procedures, the bureau drew up relevant plans for release of ECFA goods, set up special counters to give priority to the inspection application and certification of ECFA goods, and opened green channels for verification at ports. The inspection services are available the whole day to ensure the efficiency of declaration, inspection and clearance.