Declaration Procedures and Documentation
This domain tests the sequence of clearance and the two deadlines that generate money: the declaration window and the late-declaration fee. You should be able to trace a shipment from arrival to closure (结关) and name the document required at each step.
The workflow
- Declaration (申报) → document review → inspection (查验) → duty assessment → release (放行) → closure.
- Filing is electronic through the single window (国际贸易单一窗口); the declaration carries the 10-digit commodity code, origin, value, quantity and licence numbers.
- Import: declare within 14 days of the day the transport arrives. Export: generally at least 24 hours before loading.
- Late declaration fee (滞报金) = customs value × 0.05% × days overdue, waived if the amount is under CNY 50.
- Core documents: contract, commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or airway bill, certificate of origin, import/export licence, and inspection or quarantine certificates.
Worked example
A vessel arrives on 1 March. The 14-day window closes on 15 March; the declaration is accepted on 20 March, so the goods are 5 days late. With a CIF value of CNY 2,000,000, the fee is 2,000,000 × 0.05% × 5 = CNY 5,000.
Amendment, cancellation and closure
- Errors of clerical type may be corrected before or after release under the amendment rules; changes of substance require a formal application with supporting evidence.
- A declaration may be cancelled before the goods are released where the legal conditions are met.
- Release is not closure: the declaration is only closed once duties are settled and any follow-up supervision has ended.
Traps that cost marks
- Counting the 14 days from the fourteenth day rather than from arrival.
- Using duty paid instead of customs value as the fee base.
- Assuming that once goods are released the file can be discarded - records must be retained.