Views: 265 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2023-04-07 Origin: Site Inquire
The "Pre-Shipment Inspection Agreement" is a multilateral trade agreement under the jurisdiction of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is one of the WTO's agreements on goods trade and applies to all pre-shipment inspection activities conducted within the exporting country by specialized inspection agencies designated by member governments through government authorization or government contracts. These activities include inspections of imported products for their quantity, quality, price, exchange rate and financing conditions, as well as customs classification of goods.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China has been actively promoting the establishment of inspection and quarantine cooperation with African countries. It has signed pre-shipment inspection cooperation agreements with six countries, namely Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Sudan and Yemen. Currently, four countries - Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Yemen and Iran - are implementing the pre-shipment inspection cooperation agreements.
Different countries have different inspection standards according to different agreements. On-site inspections are conducted for each batch of goods. On-site inspections include verifying the consistency of the goods with the cargo certificate, focusing on checking for counterfeit and substandard goods.
Verify the marks, batch numbers, product names, quantities, models/specifications, packaging conditions, etc. A pre-shipment inspection certificate should be issued after supervision of loading and seals should be applied. For assembled or bulk cargo, seals should be applied as appropriate. The pre-shipment inspection certificate should list the container number and seal number. The original records of supervision of loading should record the container number and seal number for this batch of goods and attach photos of the goods.
From the perspective of supervision of loading work, export goods can be divided into three categories: whole-batch export goods from the place of origin; scattered supply port-centralized shipment export goods from the place of origin; and final shipment export goods from segmented loading ports at the place of origin. The corresponding supervision procedures and requirements are different as follows:
(1) For containerized export goods shipped in whole batches from the place of origin, if customs at the place of origin have supervision conditions for loading, they will implement supervision work.
(2) For assembled or bulk cargo shipped directly to ports or final shipment destinations in batches from the place of origin where customs at the place of origin do not have supervision conditions for loading, customs at ports or final shipment destinations will implement supervision work and issue a pre-shipment inspection certificate. After inspection by customs at the place of origin is completed, a certificate replacement voucher will be issued indicating "not supervised".
(3)When goods are shipped in batches and sequentially transported to the port or final destination for containerization or shipment, customs at each loading point shall conduct inspection, valuation, and supervision separately. They shall issue a pre-shipment inspection certificate and apply seals. The seal of the previous customs must be checked by the next customs before it can be opened for loading. After supervision, the seals should be re-applied in sequence. Finally, the customs at the port or final destination shall check the cargo certificate and re-apply seals before issuing a unified pre-shipment inspection certificate.
The principle of commodity valuation is objectivity, fairness, uniformity, and reasonableness. The FOB price of exported goods is used as the basis for commodity valuation based on the transaction price of the goods. The methods for commodity valuation mainly include price verification method, market comparison method, and cost calculation method. The valuation work should be carried out in combination with the inspection of goods and comprehensively considered to select an appropriate evaluation method.
After completing pre-shipment inspection work, qualified goods that have passed inspection and supervision shall be issued a "pre-shipment inspection certificate" by authorized signatories under bilateral agreement for pre-shipment inspection. The "pre-shipment inspection certificate" should have Chinese and English versions side by side. The "pre-shipment inspection certificate" should be uploaded to China Customs Inspection and Quarantine Electronic Certificate Query Platform in a timely manner.
