CIRCULAR OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS AND TRADE ON THE ADJUSTMENT OF COMMODITIES UNDER LICENSING ADMINISTRATION AND THE RELEVANT QUESTIONS

(Issued on November 15, 1986)

SUBJECT: IMPORT & EXPORT LICENSING & ADMINISTRATION

ISSUING-DEPT: MINISTRY OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS & TRADE

ISSUE-DATE: 11/15/1986

IMPLEMENT-DATE: 01/01/1987

TEXT:

To further improve and strengthen the export administration, and in accordance with the implementation of licensing system at present, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade (hereinafter referred to as MFERT) has decided to adjust the list of commodities under licensing administration, regions and issuing units. The decision will go into effect on January 1, 1987. Meanwhile, the ministry has further defined the relative issuing principles and applying procedures. The following are the details.

I. The following 43 commodities are no longer under export licensing administration:

Wines and spirits, cottonseed oil, rapeseed oil, water melon, water chestnut, potato, cabbage, magnesium, mercury, cobalt, bismuth, selenium, molybdenum concentrate and molybdenum disulphide, phallic an-hydride, acetone, natural rubber, sebacic acid, firefighting, cereals and oil processing machines, machine tools, alternating current generators and A.C generator unit, grass plaited articles, willow twig products, rattan products, bamboo products, furniture, hand-made flowers, electric fans, various suitcases, flashlights, battery, flashlight bulbs, pure cotton singlets and vests, spun rayon singlets and vests, pure cotton interlock singlets and trousers, pure cotton bath towels, pure cotton bed sheets, woollen sweaters, lotus nuts, star aniseed oil, cedar wood oil, L-cysteine and insulin.

II. Commodities of 22 kinds have been added to the list of commodities under licensing administration. These commodities, in any trade form and to any country (region) ,should all apply for and obtain export license. The following are the detailed commodities:

Heavy water, furfural, fluorite, talc, caustic calcined magnesite and dead burned magnesite, crystalline flake graphite, buckwheat, sea crab, walnuts, bitter apricot kernels, citric acid, penicillin, sulphadimidine, sulphadiazine, sulphamethoxazole, trimethoprim, analgin, coffeine, tetramisole, levamisole, narcissus bulbs, civil guns and bullets.

III. Varieties and scope of certain commodities under export licensing administration.

Tea includes all varieties. Hand embroidered articles, hand knitting articles, machine embroidered articles, crochet hats and caps have been added to drawn work. Kenaf and jute and gunny bags, ramie and its fabric products, flax fabric products, seed flax fabric products and hemp fabric products have been changed into raw ramie, gunny bags, ramie yarn and ramie fabric. Bleached cotton cloth and bleached polyester cotton cloth have been changed into bleached cloth. Pig by-products have been included into pigs. Tin ore has been included into tin. Bean expellers and bean cakes have been considered as two items separately.

IV. The region of commodities under export licensing administration has been adjusted.

The licensing region of the following 37 commodities has been enlarged to the whole world: grey cotton yarn, gray cotton fabrics, grey polyester cotton yarn, grey polyester cotton fabrics, bleached cloth, overalls sewing thread (including sewing thread on cones), groundnut oil, rape seeds, vermicelli, sorghum, jelly fish, groundnut products, canned pork, raw mink skins, walnut meat, rapeseed expellers and cake, cottonseed (meat) cake, beet expellers wheat bran, feather and down, feather and down products, candles, dried chillies, firecrackers and fireworks, star aniseed, black fungus, melon seeds, heparin sodium, jiemycin, ephedrine, potassium permanganate, malleable iron pipe fittings, barytes, alumina, rubber tyres, white oil and rare-earth.

V. Through the above adjustments, the list of commodities under export licensing administration is 212, 25 items of which will not require export licenses outside Hongkong and Macao Regions (Supplement I). To convenience management and business operation, licensing administration at different levels of 212 commodities are adjusted as follows:

(1) MFERT is to examine and issue export licenses for 30 items (Supplement II (1) ).

(2) The Special Commissioners Offices empowered by MFERT are to examine and issue export licenses for 42 items (Supplement II (2) ).

(3) Empowered by MFERT, foreign economic relations and trade departments (commissions, bureaus) and foreign trade bureau of various provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the State Council and cities (region) with enlarged power are to examine and issue export licenses for 140 items (Supplement II (3) ).

VI. Examining, issuing principles and applying, obtaining procedures of export licenses:

(1) Export licenses of commodities included in the plans (referred to as export plans issued by MFERT) are to be examined and issued by the plan issued by MFERT. For export of commodities excluded in the plan to Hongkong and Macao Regions, the license is to be examined and issued by the quotas set by MFERT;for export exceeding the plan or the quota, the license is to be examined and issued by the document approved by MFERT. For other commodities not listed in the plan and exported to other countries and regions apart from Hongkong and Macao Regions, licenses are still to be examined and approved by various license issuing units themselves in accordance with their power of licensing administration at different levels, except for other stipulations.

(2) Foreign trade administrations at various levels should examine export contract and prices and issue export licenses strictly in accordance with the approved plans and quotas.

For commodities under export association, such as maize, carpets and furfural, export licenses are to be issued by contracts coordinated by the association. For non-metallic minerals and products, such as fluorite, talc, caustic calcined magnesite and dead burned magnesite, crystalline flake graphite, barytes, bauxite and etc., export licenses are to be examined and issued in accordance with the lowest price set by the association.

(3) For commodities for which export licenses have been stipulated to be examined and issued by foreign economic relations and trade departments (commissions, bureaus) of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the State Council producing these commodities, other departments (commissions, bureaus) are prohibited from issuing the licenses.

(4) Except for other stipulation, joint ventures already approved (equity joint ventures, contractual joint ventures and foreign wholly-owned enterprises) may apply for and obtain export licenses once every six months within their business scope, by the annual export plans submitted to and checked and ratified by MFERT in accordance with stipulations of export licensing administration at different levels.

Compensation trade projects already approved and under execution which need export licenses, may apply for and obtain them by the annual compensation trade plans in accordance with the relevant stipulations of licensing administration at different levels.

Projects already approved of processing with materials provided by foreign partners are to apply for and obtain export licenses by annual processing quantities checked and ratified by MFERT in accordance with relevant stipulations of export licensing administration at different levels.

All items above are still to be implemented in accordance with stipulations in Administration-Export Document No. 14(86) of MFERT before MFERT checks, ratifies and issues the plans.

To better utilize foreign capital and guide the foreign capital to the right direction, newly executed foreign capital utilizing projects, which are involved in the examination and approvement of export licenses and quota administration, may still implement the relevant stipulations in Administration-Export Document No. 14 of MFERT.

(5) The applying for and obtaining of export licenses of corporations combined with production belonging to various departments under the Central Government are to be handled in accordance with stipulations in Administration-Export Document No. 14 and No. 67(86) of MFERT.

(6) For export administration in special economic zones, MFERT has set to draft Procedures for Foreign Trade Administration in Special Economic Zones jointly with concerned departments. Before the implementation of these procedures, the following regulations are to be implemented for the time being.

a. Export of commodities produced locally by foreign trade enterprises in special economic zones (including commodities with added value of over 20% by processing with materials of inland provinces): Should the commodities are under export licensing administration, export licenses are to be applied for and obtained from the designated issuing units in accordance with stipulations of export licensing administration at different levels.

b. According to the present planning administrative system, export plans of foreign trade enterprises in special economic zones are included in plans of provinces they belong to. For planned commodities (produced locally or not) of foreign trade enterprises in special zones, export licenses are to be issued by the provincial export plans issued by MFERT: for unplanned commodities of export licensing and quota administration, except for other stipulations, they are to be submitted to the province by the foreign trade enterprises of the special zones for collection and examination, then to MFERT by the province. Export licenses of the said commodities are to be applied for and obtained from the designated issuing units by documents approved by MFERT in accordance with stipulations of export licensing administration at different levels.

(7) Newly added commodities under export licensing administration, should it is unable to obtain export licenses because the goods have been on passage or have reached the port for export, in order not to affect export, within the business scope approved by the state, the exporter may submit letter of guarantee to the local customs. After the approvement of the customs, the export will be registered and released by the customs, and the export licenses should be supplied within the limited period to wind up the case. If the license is not supplied after the period, the customs will take measures according to law.

VII. It is restated that reselling, transferring, altering, fabricating of export licenses and obtaining by fraudulence are strictly prohibited.

VIII. The customs is to supervise, control, examine and release export by export licenses in accordance with stipulations of export licensing administration.

IX. All foreign trade administrative departments will examine and issue export licenses strictly in accordance with the principles of export licensing administration at different levels in this Circular from January 1, 1987.

Should the export license issuing unit for certain commodity has been changed, the export licenses issued by the original issuing unit is valid until January 31, 1987, and will be invalid after that date.

X. Should documents of export licensing administration issued by MFERT earlier differ from this Circular, this Circular is to be taken as the standard.