New foreign trade regulations in October

• Continuation of the tax policy on returned goods for cross-border e-commerce exports;
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs optimizes the visa application form for foreigners to come to China;
• Thailand and Georgia have announced visa-free access to Chinese citizens;
• The United States extended tariff exemptions for 352 Chinese imports and 77 epidemic prevention commodities;
• The EU officially opened the transition period for the imposition of "carbon tariffs;
• The European Chip Act comes into force;
• Russia's flexible export tariffs linked to the ruble exchange rate on a large number of goods;
• South Korea to amend the implementation of the special law on the safety management of imported food;
• India issued two quality control orders;
• Vietnam issued technical safety quality inspection certification regulations for imported automobiles;
• Australia issues final import requirements for shrimp and shrimp products for human consumption;
• Azerbaijan plans to exempt part of the import VAT on raw materials and materials for the production of passenger cars.

1. Cross-border e-commerce export returned goods tax policy continued to be implemented.
In order to support the accelerated development of new business models such as cross-border e-commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation recently jointly issued the "Announcement on Continuing the Implementation of the Tax Policy for Cross-border E-commerce Export Return Commodities."
The announcement stipulates that goods (excluding food) declared for export under cross-border e-commerce customs supervision codes (1210, 9610, 9710, 9810) from January 30, 2023 to December 31, 2025, and returned in the original state due to unsalable or return within 6 months from the date of export, shall be exempted from import duties and import value-added tax and consumption tax. Export duties already levied at the time of export are allowed to be refunded; the value-added tax and consumption tax that have been levied at the time of export shall be implemented with reference to the relevant tax regulations on the return of domestic goods; other regulations are still in accordance with the ''Announcement of the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, the State Administration of Taxation on the Tax Policy of Cross-border E-commerce Exported Returned Commodities "(Ministry of Finance, Customs, General Administration of Taxation Announcement No. 4, 2023) relevant provisions shall be implemented.
The announcement extends the time limit for enterprises to declare exports under the cross-border e-commerce customs supervision code from January 29, 2024 to December 31, 2025.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs optimizes the visa application form for foreigners to come to China
In order to further facilitate foreigners to apply for visas to China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has optimized the application forms for foreigners to come to China. The optimized application form involves 7 major items and 15 sub-items, mainly involving the applicant's educational background, family information, travel experience, etc., reducing the written content. For example, the applicant's international travel experience is shortened from 5 years to 1 year, and the educational background only needs to fill in the highest academic background. The time for applicants to fill in the form will be greatly shortened, and it will be more convenient to apply for visas to China.

3. Thailand, Georgia announce visa exemption for Chinese citizens
Georgian Prime Minister Garibashvili announced on September 11 that Georgia will grant visa-free treatment to Chinese citizens from now on. The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a message saying, "From September 11, 2023, a preferential visa policy will be implemented for Chinese citizens and Chinese permanent residents. According to the new rules, Chinese citizens and Chinese permanent residents have the right to enter Georgia without a visa and stay in Georgia for 30 days."
Thai Prime Minister Saita Thaksin announced on September 13 that Thailand will implement a visa-free system for Chinese tourists for about five months from September 25. Sita told the media after the cabinet meeting that Thailand will be visa-free for Chinese tourists from the 25th of this month to February 29, 2024.

4. U.S. Extends Tariff Exemption for 352 Chinese Imports and 77 Epidemic Prevention Commodities
The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced on September 6, local time, a further extension of the 301 clause tariff exemption period for 352 Chinese imports and 77 Chinese imports related to the new crown epidemic prevention that have been restored, from September 30 to December 31 this year.

5. The EU officially opened the transition period for the imposition of "carbon tariffs".
On August 17, local time, the European Commission announced the implementation rules for the transition period of the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).
The rules will take effect from October 1 this year and will continue until the end of 2025, with a formal start in 2026 and full implementation by 2034.
The implementation rules for the transition period announced by the European Commission this time are based on the ''Establishment of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism'' announced by the European Union in May this year, detailing the obligations involved in importers of EU carbon border adjustment mechanism products, and calculating the release of these imported products during the production process Transitional method for the amount of greenhouse gases.
The rules stipulate that in the initial transition phase, importers only need to submit carbon emission information reports related to their goods without any financial payment or adjustment.
After the transition period, with full effect on 1 January 2026, importers will need to declare annually the quantity of goods imported into the EU in the previous year and the greenhouse gases they contain, and surrender the corresponding quantity of CBAM certificates.
The price of the certificate will be calculated on the basis of the weekly average auction price of the ETS (ETS) allowances expressed in euros per tonne of CO2 emissions.
During the period 2026-2034, the phase-out of free allowances under the EU ETS will be synchronized with the phasing-in of CBAM, culminating in the total elimination of free allowances in 2034.
In the new bill, all EU industries protected by ETS will be granted free quotas, but from 2027 to 2031, the proportion of free quotas will gradually be reduced from 93% to 25%. In 2032, the proportion of free quotas will be reduced to zero, three years earlier than the withdrawal time of the original draft.

6.The European Chip Act comes into force
On September 21, the European Chip Act came into effect. On the same day, the European Commission announced that the plan promotes the industrialization of key technologies through the "European Chip Plan" and encourages public and private enterprises to invest in the manufacturing facilities of chip manufacturers and their suppliers.
The CHIP Act aims to create the conditions for the development of the European industrial base in the semiconductor sector, attract investment, promote research and innovation, and prepare Europe for the future chip supply crisis. The EU will raise € 43 billion million of public and private funding (€ 3.3 billion of which will come from the EU budget) with the goal of doubling the EU's share of the global semiconductor market from the current 10% to at least 20% by 2030.

7. Russia applies flexible export tariffs linked to the ruble exchange rate on a large number of goods.
The Russian Government Information Service issued an announcement on September 21 stating that in order to protect the domestic market, the Russian government has decided to implement flexible export tariffs on a large number of commodities from October 1, local time to the end of 2024, and the tariff rate is linked to the ruble exchange rate.
The Russian government pointed out that according to the level of the ruble exchange rate, the export tariff rate of most types of goods on the list is 4% to 7%; however, when the central bank's ruble exchange rate is lower than 1 U.S. dollar to 80 rubles, the export tariff is zero. The export tariff rate for fertilizers is up to 10%.
The Russian government pointed out that this measure is aimed at maintaining a reasonable relationship between exports and domestic demand and can prevent unreasonable price increases in the domestic market.

8. South Korea revised the implementation rules of the special law on the safety management of imported food
The Ministry of Food and Drug (MFDS) of the Republic of Korea issued Prime Minister's Order No. 1896 to amend the implementation rules of the special law on the safety management of imported food. The rules will be implemented on September 14, 2023. The main amendments are as follows:
In order to carry out the import declaration business efficiently, for the food with low public health risk and repeated import, the import declaration can be accepted automatically through the import food integrated information system, and the import declaration confirmation can be issued automatically. However, the following cases are excluded: imported food with additional conditions, imported food that is conditionally subject to declaration, imported food for the first time, imported food that should be inspected in accordance with regulations, etc;
The local food and drug department shall inspect the imported food in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 30 when it is difficult to determine the inspection results through automated methods. The integrated information system should also be regularly verified to confirm whether the automatic import declaration is normal;
Improve and supplement some of the shortcomings of the current system. For example, the relaxation of facilities standards, for imported food e-commerce or mail order business, housing can be used as an office.

9.India issues two quality control orders
According to the Indian Information Bureau, the Department of Industry and Domestic Trade Promotion of the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently issued two new quality control orders, namely, the Solar DC Cable and Fire Rescue Cable (Quality Control) Order (2023) and the Cast Iron Products (Quality Control) Order (2023), which will come into effect in six months.
Products included in the quality control order will have to comply with the relevant Indian standards and be certified by the Indian Bureau of Standards with the standard mark, otherwise they will not be produced, sold, traded, imported or stored.
The products covered by the Solar DC Cables and Fire Rescue Cables (Quality Control) Order (2023) include interconnection cables mainly used for various components of photovoltaic systems such as solar panel arrays. These cables are widely used in nuclear power plants, airports, and subways., Oil refineries, high-rise buildings, shopping malls, cinemas, etc.
The Cast Iron Products (Quality Control) Order (2023) mainly deals with standards related to various cast iron products, such as manhole covers, cast iron pipes, malleable iron fittings and gray cast iron parts.

10. Vietnam issued regulations on technical safety quality inspection and certification of imported automobiles
According to the Vietnam News Agency, the Vietnamese government recently issued Decree No. 60/2023/ND-CP, which clearly stipulates the quality, technical safety and environmental protection inspection and certification of imported cars and imported parts.
According to the decree, recalled cars include those recalled according to the recall announcement issued by the manufacturer and those recalled at the request of the inspection agency. The inspection agency makes a recall request based on the verification results of specific evidence and feedback on vehicle quality, technical safety and environmental protection information.
If a car that has been put on the market has technical defects and needs to be recalled, the importer shall perform the following duties:
The importer shall, within 5 working days from the date of receiving the notice of recall from the manufacturer or the competent authority, notify the seller to stop selling defective automobile products with unresolved faults.
Within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the recall notice from the manufacturer or inspection agency, the importer must submit a written report to the inspection agency. The report includes the cause of the defect, remedial measures, the number of recalled cars, the recall plan, and the timely and comprehensive release of recall plan information and recall list on the website of the importer and agent.
The Act also clarifies the responsibilities of inspection agencies.
In addition, if the importer can provide evidence that the manufacturer does not cooperate with the implementation of the recall plan, the inspection agency will consider stopping the technical safety, quality and environmental inspection and certification procedures for all automotive products of the same manufacturer.
For cars that need to be recalled but have not yet been certified by the inspection agency, the inspection agency shall notify the customs of the place of import declaration to allow the importer to temporarily pick up the goods so that the importer can take remedial measures against the problem vehicles. After the importer provides a list of cars that have been repaired, the inspection agency continues to go through the inspection and certification procedures as required.
Decree-Law No. 60/2023/ND-CP entered into force on October 1, 2023 and applies to automotive products from August 1, 2025.

11.As long as you have import and export needs at Qingdao Port, you can consult at any time. Qingdao Haikuo Chemical Logistics has been specializing in the export of dangerous goods for more than ten years, and has a rich range of dangerous goods exports. TANK leasing, dangerous goods trailer customs declaration, dangerous goods declaration, and sea export booking can be carried out in a timely manner according to the shipping time and destination port requirements, and dangerous goods approval can be carried out to ensure the shipping time and efficiency. If you need, please feel free to consult!Australia issues final import requirements for shrimp and shrimp products for human consumption
Recently, the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website issued Circular 2023-A10, announcing the final import requirements for shrimp and shrimp products for human consumption. The main contents are:
All imported prawns and prawn products must be frozen;
All imported cooked shrimp and shrimp products must be frozen, and the minimum core temperature of the product should reach 65°C during the cooking process;
Only countries or regions that have been officially assessed by Australia as free of 10 pathogens, such as decapod iridovirus, are allowed to export whole undercooked (frozen) shrimp to Australia.
The requirement will be implemented from October 30, 2023, when the new version of the health certificate for imported shrimp and shrimp products will be launched simultaneously.

12. Azerbaijan plans to exempt part of the import value-added tax on raw materials and materials for the production of passenger cars
Azerbaijani President Aliyev signed a decree approving the exemption of import value-added tax on some raw materials and materials for the production of passenger cars by January 1, 2031.

As long as you have import and export needs at Qingdao Port, you can consult at any time. Qingdao Haikuo Chemical Logistics has been specializing in the export of dangerous goods for more than ten years, and has a rich range of dangerous goods exports. TANK leasing, dangerous goods trailer customs declaration, dangerous goods declaration, and sea export booking can be carried out in a timely manner according to the shipping time and destination port requirements, and dangerous goods approval can be carried out to ensure the shipping time and efficiency. If you need, please feel free to consult!