The General Administration of Customs (GAC) in China has rolled out a program known as "Shield of National Border" earlier this year. The program is aimed to safeguard the country's stability, by offering a fair and secure economic environment.
The main purpose of the "Shield of National Border" program is to enhance the monitoring and governance of import and export activities in China through a process of Customs inspections and examinations, in order to secure efficient trade and a high rate of customs compliance.
The Customs inspection process will either be selected as "Random by system selection" or "Targeted by manual selection." If a shipment has been selected through the system, it cannot be overridden. If it has been manually targeted, different factors could affect the selection process, such as credit with customs, sensitive cargo, sensitive period, valuation, HS Code, lack of documentation or information from the entry filing, illegible documentation and/or poor compliance rate in history, along with other factors.
Customs is planning to inspect cargo and documentation in a more rigorous manner than before. If Customs has any hesitations or the shipment is found suspicious, it could be potentially held for several weeks for investigation.
To avoid any delays, it is recommended that companies importing into China:
- Provide a detailed description of the commodity with all documentation
- Provide a full set of commercial documents from the beginning
- In the case of a customs examination, assist the broker with any necessary product information to speed up the inspection process
- Ensure that correct classification and valuation is always provided
