In accordance with the Free Trade Agreement Between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of New Zealand (hereinafter referred to as China-New Zealand FTA), the quantities of Country Specific Tariff Quotas (hereinafter referred to as “CSTQ”) of imports of wool and wool tops of New Zealand origin are respectively 30,388 tons and 547 tons in 2013 (which are the scoured/conditioned quantities). For the purpose of the administration of import of commodities, relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:
I. The allocation policy of “first come, first serve” with contracts is implemented for CSTQ. The applicants may submit application for CSTQ (including processing trade) to the organization authorized by the Ministry of Commerce (enterprises under the Central Administration may directly submit application to Quota & Licence Administrative Bureau Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, hereinafter inclusive), where the applicants are located, with import contracts of wool and wool tops and relevant documents.
The Application Form of CSTQ for Wool and Wool Tops (hereinafter referred to as the Application Form) may be claimed in the organization authorized by the Ministry of Commerce or downloaded on the website of the Ministry of Commerce (http://www.mofcom.gov.cn). The column of place of origin for the import contracts in the Application Form shall be only filled with New Zealand.
II. The CSTQ for wool and wool tops shall be applied by the following methods prior to September 30, 2013:
Wool. The accumulative CSTQ quantity for wool of applicants with performance (i.e. enterprises with CSTQ for wool in 2012 and import performance) to be applied shall not exceed the import CSTQ quantity under the same trade mode in 2012.
Wool tops. The accumulative CSTQ quantities for wool tops of applicants with performance (i.e. enterprises with global tariff quotas for wool tops in 2012 and import performance) to be applied shall not exceed 20% of the import quantity of global tariff quota under the same trade mode in 2012, and the total quantity of wool tops applied by each applicant shall be less than 50 tons.
When the accumulative CSTQ quantities issued reach the total CSTQ quotas for wool and wool tops in 2013, the organization authorized by the Ministry of Commerce will cease acceptance of applications.
III. If, after September 30, 2013, the CSTQ are not used up and the applicant with performance has accomplished the import quantity specified in Article II, and the applicant may, with the approval from the Ministry of Commerce, continue to apply for CSTQ; the other applicants approved by the Ministry of Commerce (i.e. enterprises with global tariff quotas for wool or wool tops in 2012 and import performance but no CSTQ, or enterprises with newly built annual processing ability of over 5,000 tons wool and wool tops) may submit its application for CSTQ.
IV. CSTQ shall be certified with Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products, however, the column of remark in which shall expressly indicate “CSTQ for wool and wool tops of New Zealand origin”. The certificate shall indicate the scoured and conditioned quantities.
V. When the CSTQ holders import wool or wool tops, they shall declare the scoured/conditioned quantities of wool in real terms to the customs and submit relevant Certificate of Import Tariff Quotas for Agricultural Products. After the customs verifies and confirms the compliance with the relevant provisions of China-New Zealand FTA, the agreed tariff in China-New Zealand FTA shall be applied; otherwise, the most-favored-nation tariff or the general tariff shall be applied.
VI. The application conditions, procedures for CSTQ, the effective period, extension, return, cancellation after verification and relevant penalty provisions of the certificate shall be subject to Detailed Rules for Implementation of Administration of Import Tariff Quotas for Wool and Wool Tops in 2013 (MOFCOM Announcement No. 60 of 2012).
Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China
General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China
December 18, 2012