CUSTOMS PROCEDURE - Simplification of processes

Chongqing Customs to ease cargo flows
By Raymond Duan
Chongqing 

Customs officers at Chongqing municipality have been simplifying procedures and creating convenient channels for cargo flows in anticipation of ballooning traffic in the coming years.
Ma Zhongyuan, director-general of the Chongqing Customs District and a deputy to the National People’s Congress, said during a recent NPC session that Chongqing has adopted measures to streamline Customs clearance for the convenience of supply chain operators so as to help them cut costs and speed up the flow of cargo, capital and Customs documents.
The measures include advanced clearance and Customs-to-Customs transfer, localised declaration but coastal port release, and one-time declaration, one-time inspection and one-time release of cargo.
According to officers with the Chongqing Customs District by introducing this mode of advanced clearance and transfer between Customs offices, it enables inland enterprises to shorten their clearance and taxation period by 20-25 days.
Once the overseas-bound cargoes enter the Customs zone at the Lianglu Cuntan Free Trade Port Area, officers go through all the local Customs formalities and forward the cargoe to Customs offices along the coast, where the cross-border procedures are finalised before the cargo heads overseas.
Localised declaration but coastal port release became a reality because of cooperation among the 23 Customs ports across the mainland to provide a convenient service to enterprises.
For qualified enterprises under the Chongqing Customs administration, once their shipments go through Customs declaration procedures at Chongqing, the cargo is released upon inspection to the offices at coastal ports. Exporters do not have to provide any downpayment for taxes weeks earlier to coastal port agencies as was done before. And the cargo can be directly forwarded toward destination upon double checking of documents on computers by the coastal Customs ports.
Enterprises in Customs areas, namely the Lianglu Cuntan Free Trade Port Area and the Xiyong Comprehensive Bonded Zone, can apply for one-time declaration, one-time inspection and one-time release. Such procedures include declaration, initial check, acceptance, inspection, release and transfer to another Customs office.
The major benefit for foreign trade companies under this new system is a saving in costs, said Yan Zhu, general manager of Chongqing Tianzhuhang Import and Export Trade. “Importers could store the cargo in the warehouses in the free trade port area and pay the charges upon leaving, which would lower capital costs and ease the burden of credit loans.’’
Customs officials at Lianglu Cuntan area say the move has encouraged businesses from neighboring provinces to relocate at the Chongqing free trade zone. More than 30 percent of foreign trade goods handled at the Lianglu Cuntan Customs office are from outside Chongqing municipality; the percentage was one digit before the office officially went into operation a year ago.
Moreover, Chongqing Customs has been agile in applying information technology to speed up cargo flow. Each container entering and leaving the yard at designated zones will automatically form a basic account in the computer system to be matched at checkpoints with related information.
Exporters and importers do not need to get their cargo checked during Customs eight-hour working hours. The loading of exports, launch of shipping and unloading of imports are allowed to go through approval procedures via the Customs automation system at the free trade areas. This means that cargo owners and shippers, forwarders and carriers can decide what time they want their cargo checked instead of waiting for Customs officers. Once out of the Customs area, the cargoes are monitored by satellite tracking systems on their way to the vessels.
With the deployment of more information technology products, the Customs at Lianglu Cuntan area are extending their services to paperless declaration and bar code checks. Last year, the Customs office at Lianglu Cuntan area handled 45,000 sets of documents and enjoyed a 100 percent rate of container matching.
Chongqing has also been promoting its coordination not only with the districts, but also with coastal ports as well as European counterparts. Thanks to cooperation with Belgium and other European Customs, Chongqing has been designated as the first trial port in inland China for the China-Europe trade to make the route more cost-efficient and transparent.