The General Administration of Customs issued Announcement 63/2011 on October 28 2011 announcing the implementation of changes to the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Rules of Origin and Customs Procedures arising from the China-Singapore Amendment Protocol, which was signed on 27 July 2011:
- In determining whether fungible goods and materials originate under the agreement, they should be distinguished by either:
- physical separation of the goods and materials; or
- the use of an inventory management method accepted by the exporting country's generally accepted accounting principles; and
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- If preferential certificates of origin are not issued at the time of loading or within three days of the goods being loaded for shipment, due to either involuntary errors or other valid causes, a certificate of origin bearing the words 'ISSUED RETROSPECTIVELY' may be issued retrospectively, but not later than one year from the date of shipment.
The changes are in force with effect from October 24 2011.(1)
For further information on this topic please contact Eugene Lim at Baker & McKenzie's Hong Kong office by telephone (+852 2846 2413), fax (+852 2845 0476) or email ([email protected]).
Endnotes
(1) The full text of the changes is available at www.customs.gov.cn/publish/portal0/tab39114/module92733/info322135.htm.