China Announces Reallocation of 2011's Tariff Quotas for Agric. Imports

Announcement No. 18, 2011 of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Release of the Announcement on Reallocation of Tariff Quotas of 2011 for Imports of Agricultural Products

As per China's Provisional Administrative Measures on Tariff Quotas for Imports of Agricultural Products, hereby promulgated is China's Announcement on Reallocation of Tariff Quotas of 2011 for Imports of Agricultural Products.

The National Development and Reform Commission of the P. R. China (NDRC)
The Ministry of Commerce of the P. R. China (MOFCOM)

August 8, 2011

Announcement on Reallocation of Tariff Quotas of 2011 for Imports of Agricultural Products

Hereby promulgated below are relevant matters with China's reallocation of tariff quotas of the year 2011 for imports of agricultural products, in accordance with the following three Chinese administrative regulations:

(1) The Provisional Administrative Measures on Tariff Quotas for Imports of Agricultural Products (in the MOFCOM-and-NDRC Decree No. 4 of 2003, hereinafter referred to as the Provisional Measures).

(2) The Principles on Quantity, Application and Allocation for Tariff Quotas of 2011 for Imports of Grain and Cotton (in the NDRC Announcement No. 27 of 2010, hereinafter referred to as the Allocation Principles).

(3) The Detailed Rules on Application and Allocation for Tariff Quotas of 2011 for Sugar Imports (in the MOFCOM Announcement No. 64 of 2010, hereinafter referred to as the Detailed Allocation Rules).

Articles:

1. Any end user, holding 2011's tariff quotas for imports of wheat, corn, rice/unhusked rice, sugar or cotton, but having no import contract signed in 2011 for all of his quota quantity or having the estimated inability to conduct shipment from the port of departure by the end of 2011 although having relevant import contracts signed, shall return any uncompleted or unable-to-be-completed portion of his tariff-quota quantity to competent provincial/municipal administrations of the NDRC and the MOFCOM prior to September 15, 2011.

The NDRC and the MOFCOM may conduct reallocation of such returned quotas.

With respect to any quota herein both unreturned prior to September 15 and underutilized by the yearend by the end user, the NDRC and the MOFCOM may conduct a proportional deduction in their allocation of the import-tariff quota for the next year.

2. WHERE any end user holds the 2011's tariff quotas for imports of the Article-1-listed products and has fully utilized all of his quotas (required to submit copies of relevant customs-declaration forms), and WHERE any fresh user has not applied for the 2011's tariff quotas during the allocation before early 2011, although meeting the application conditions set forth in the Allocation Principles and the Detailed Allocation Rules, Both of them aforesaid shall have the right to apply for reallocation for them of such import-tariff quotas to competent provincial/municipal administrations of the NDRC and the MOFCOM.

3. Relevant applicants shall submit their written applications for such tariff-quota reallocation during the period of September 1-15, 2011 to competent provincial/municipal administrations of the NDRC and the MOFCOM.

The application forms shall be completed according to regulations set forth in the annexed Form of Application for Reallocation of Tariff Quotas of 2011 for Imports of Agricultural Products.

4. After preliminarily examining the applications aforesaid, provincial/municipal administrations of the NDRC and the MOFCOM may:

Declare as from September 1, 2011 any qualified applications one-by-one to the NDRC and the MOFCOM through the computer management system for agricultural import-tariff quotas, and also

Make written reports prior to September 20, 2011 of each of those applications, after organizing them chronologically, to the NDRC and/or the MOFCOM.

5. The NDRC and the MOFCOM may conduct reallocation of the returned quotas in their chronological order of online declarations, and may inform the end users of the reallocation results prior to October 1, 2011.

Where the total number of qualified applications is less than the quantity of tariff-quota reallocation, each application therein may be satisfied.

Where the total number of qualified applications is more than the quantity of tariff-quota reallocation, the applications first received may be first satisfied according to relevant regulations in the Allocation Principles and the Detailed Allocation Rules.

6. The validity period of any reallocated tariff quota, among other matters, shall be subject to relevant regulations in the Provisional Measures, the Allocation Principles, and the Detailed Allocation Rules.

7. The reallocation of tariff quotas for imports of wheat, corn, rice/unhusked rice, and cotton, may be put into practice by the NDRC and its provincial/municipal administrations along with the MOFCOM.

The reallocation of tariff quotas for sugar imports may be put into practice by the MOFCOM and its provincial/municipal administrations.

Annex: Form of Application for Reallocation of Tariff Quotas of 2011 for Imports of Agricultural Products (omitted)