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文 | 李太阳 汇业律师事务所 合伙人

GACC seeks public opinions for the Customs Law Amendments
海关总署就《海关法》修订草案公开征求意见

Starting on 10 November 2023, the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) issued the Customs Law (Draft Amendment) (the "Draft Amendments") to solicit public opinions until 10 December 2023.
2023年11月10日，中国海关总署发布《海关法（修订草案征求意见稿）》（以下简称“修订草案”），自同日起至2023年12月10日向社会公开征求意见。
China's current Customs Law was promulgated and implemented in 1987, and once overhauled in 2000 when China acceded to the WTO. This amendment marks another major revision of this Law. The main changes of the Draft Amendment are as follows:
中国现行《海关法》于1987年颁布实施，并在2000年中国加入WTO时作了一次大幅修改。此次修改是对《海关法》的又一次较大修改。修订草案的主要修改内容如下：

a) Included provisions on inspection and quarantine
纳入检验检疫相关内容

In line with the integration of customs and entry-exit inspection and quarantine (CIQ) in 2018[1], the rules and regulations on entry-exit inspection and quarantine were incorporated into the Draft Amendments. At present, China's entry-exit inspection and quarantine laws mainly include the Law on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, the Law on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine, the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law, and the Food Safety Law, etc.. The Draft Amendments comprehensively added the provisions concerning inspection and quarantine.
基于2018年的关检合并[2]，修订草案将进出境检验检疫相关规定纳入其中。目前，中国进出境检验检疫法律主要包括《进出口商品检验法》《进出境动植物检疫法》《国境卫生检疫法》《食品安全法》等法律。修订草案中大量增加了检验检疫相关的内容。
Specifically, the Draft Amendments included entry and exit personnel within the scope of customs supervision (Art.2, etc.), embedded inspection and quarantine requirements into the customs supervision process (Art.58, 104, etc.), incorporated the administrative measures taken by the Customs to perform inspection and quarantine duties into the scope of the customs supervision, and provided administrative violations of inspection and quarantine as violations of customs supervision regulations (Art.2, 102).
具体而言，修订草案将进出境人员纳入海关监管对象范围（第二条等）；将检验检疫要求嵌入海关监管流程（第五十八条、第一百零四条等）；将海关为履行检验检疫职责所采取的管理措施统一纳入“海关监管”范畴，将违反检验检疫的行政违法行为统一定位为“违反海关监管规定”行为（第二条、第一百零二条）。

b) Streamlined customs supervision for trade facilitation
优化海关监管促进贸易便利化

In order to facilitate trade, the Draft Amendments stressed the promotion of the building of a "single window" platform for international trade (Art.10), clarified "verification of electronic information of documents" (Art.38, 52), abolished the restrictions on the place of customs declaration (Art.64), and added provisions such as "advance declaration" for import and export goods (Art.53).
为了促进贸易便利化，修订草案强调推进国际贸易“单一窗口”平台建设（第十条）；明确管理相对人可以“按照规定申请核验单证电子信息”（第三十八条、第五十二条）；取消报关地海关的限制（第六十四条）；增加进出口货物“提前申报”等规定（第五十三条）。
The Draft Amendment removed the restriction on the place of customs declaration, either the consignee or consignor may choose the most convenient place to make declaration and customs formalities accordingly, and the declaration and clearance is no longer limited to the place of entry or exit (Art.64). Furthermore, the Draft Amendment stipulates that the Customs shall strengthen the application of modern science and technology, promote the building of "single window" platforms for international trade as well as professional and technical institutions, etc. in order to make a more informatized, digitized and smarter customs (Art. 10).
修订草案取消了对于报关地的限制，收货人或发货人都可以根据需要选择报关地办理海关手续，而不再限于进境地海关或出境地海关（第六十四条）。同时，修订草案还明确规定，海关加强现代科学技术应用，推进国际贸易“单一窗口”平台、专业技术机构等建设，提升海关信息化、数字化、智能化水平（第十条）。

c) Adopted the risk management-based approach
纳入全面风险管理制度

The Draft Amendment incorporated the risk management–based approach throughout the entire process of customs supervision. In line with the provisions of the Revised Kyoto Convention, the SAFE Framework of Standards, etc., risk management–based approach was provided for the first time at the legal level as one of the working principles of the Customs regulation (Art.3). In order to implement the risk management–based approach, the Draft Amendment added two special chapters on customs risk management and on enterprise management.
修订草案将风险管理理念贯穿于海关监管全流程。结合《经修订的京都公约》《全球贸易安全与便利标准框架》等规定等，首次在法律层面确立“风险管理”地位，明确作为海关的工作原则之一（第三条）。为了落实风险管理，修订草案增设了“海关风险管理”专章和“企业管理”专章。
In the chapter on the customs risk management (Chapter 4), the basic rules was put in place, which include data collection, risk assessment, risk warning, risk management measures (including customs examination, verification, inspection, quarantine measures, customs guarantee, etc.), risk control measures, etc.(Art.24 to Art.28).
在“海关风险管理”专章（第三章）中，明确了风险管理的基本制度，包括信息收集、风险评估、风险预警、风险管理措施（包括查验、核查、检疫措施、担保等）、控制措施等（第二十四条至第二十八条）。
In the chapter on enterprise management (Chapter 4), which improved the registration and filing of enterprises, added deregistration mechanism for enterprises, clarified the legal basis for credit management for enterprises  added the verification rules for the goods as well as its exporter or importer , and the inspection rules for the enterprises suspected of law violations(Art.29 to Art.37).
另外，在“企业管理”专章（第四章），优化了海关对注册、备案企业的要求，增加企业退出机制；明确对企业实施信用管理的法律依据，对货物及其进出口人的“核查”制度，完善了对涉嫌违法企业的“稽查”制度（第二十九条至第三十七条）。

d) Integrated customs enforcement measures
整合海关执法措施

The Draft Amendments redefined customs inspection and verification, and expanded the scope of customs examination greatly. The Draft Amendment defined the routine regulatory measures as customs verification, and the measures conducted against enterprises suspected of violating the law as customs inspections. Customs examination covers traditional customs examination as well as inspections and quarantine related examination.
修订草案重新界定海关稽查、核查，大大拓展了“海关查验”的范围。修订草案将海关核查界定为常规的监管措施，将海关稽查界定为针对有违法嫌疑的企业进行的查验措施。此外，海关查验除了涵盖海关传统的查验外，还包括为实施检验检疫而进行的检验查验和检疫查验。
The Draft Amendments refreshed the classification of law enforcement measures, which are divided into routine measures, sealing, compulsory measures, investigation of smuggling, continuous pursuit, and the carrying and using of weapons (Art.14 to Art.19), etc. In general, the Draft Amendments mainly optimized, adjusted the existing provisions.
修订草案对执法措施进行分类梳理，区分为常规措施、加施封识、强制措施、调查走私、连续追缉、配备武器等（第十四条至第十九条）。总体而言，修订草案主要是对现行规定作了优化调整。

e) Improved and harmonized relevant penalties
完善并统一相关的法律责任

The Draft Amendments also made revisions to the penalties for violations. For example, the definition of act of smuggling is adjusted, and any acts violating customs Law and relevant laws and administrative regulations or evasion of Customs supervision and administration may constitute it, no matter whether there is theft and evasion of payable duties or not (Art.89).
修订草案还对违法责任做了相应调整。如调整了走私定义。根据其规定，任何违反海关法及有关法律、行政法规，逃避海关监管的行为均可构成走私，无论是否存在偷逃应纳税款的行为（第八十九条）。
In addition, in order to harmonize the penalties provided under relevant laws such as the Export Control Law, the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, and Biosecurity Law, etc., the Draft Amendments added control measures such as suspending or rescinding the qualifications or licenses for exporting goods to China, restricting or prohibiting the entry or exit of certain goods or articles from a certain country or region, and suggesting other sanctions measures such as unreliable entities list. The inclusion of these control measures into the Draft Amendments, would further enhance the deterrence against violations (Art. 28).
此外，为了统一、协调各相关法律项下的法律责任，修订草案结合《出口管制法》《反外国制裁法》《生物安全法》等法律的规定，增加了海关风险控制措施，如暂停、取消向中国出口特定货物的相关资质；限制、禁止特定国家（地区）的特定货物、物品进出境；向有关主管部门建议列入不可靠实体清单等控制措施。修订草案追加这些控制措施，也将加大对违法行为的威慑力（第二十八条）。

The Customs Law is the basic law applicable to cross-border activities, and is one of the most important legal rules for businesses engaging in import and export trade. Therefore, businesses shall take a close eye on the ongoing legislation. If necessary, businesses may consider to submit corresponding opinions on the Draft Amendments in accordance with the requirements of the GACC.
《海关法》是进出境活动应当遵循的基本法律规范，也是企业从事进出口贸易最为重要的法律规定。因此，相关企业有必要对后续发展予以关注。必要时，可以考虑根据海关总署要求，针对修订草案提出相应的意见。

注：

[1]Prior to the institutional reform in April 2018, entry-exit inspection and quarantine functions were exercised by the entry-exit inspection and quarantine department. After the institutional reform in April 2018, the relevant responsibilities of entry-exit inspection and quarantine were exercised by the General Administration of Customs.

[2] 在2018年4月机构改革之前，出入境检验检疫职能由出入境检验检疫部门行使。2018年4月机构改革后，出入境检验检疫的相关职责改由海关总署统一行使。