One Year Into the Implementation of the China-Serbia FTA, Gongbei Customs Has Facilitated Preferential Treatment for Export Goods Valued at Over 900 Million Yuan

Recently, Zhuhai Xiaomi Communication Technology Co., Ltd. obtained a China-Serbia FTA Certificate of Origin for a shipment of robotic vacuum cleaners worth over 180,000 yuan through Xiangzhou Customs, a subordinate of Gongbei Customs. This certificate grants the products a 6% tariff reduction upon import into Serbia.

"Since the China-Serbia FTA took effect, our small home appliances and electronic devices exported to Serbia have qualified for import tariff concessions. For instance, Bluetooth earphones now enjoy zero tariffs instead of the previous 15% rate. This tariff elimination significantly enhances our products' price competitiveness, enabling us to better penetrate emerging markets," explained Lei Mingwei, the company's Customs Affairs Manager. It is reported that in the first year of the agreement's implementation, the company has processed 1,044 China-Serbia Certificates of Origin at Xiangzhou Customs, with preferential trade benefits exceeding 116 million yuan.

The China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement officially took effect on July 1, 2024. As policy dividends continue to materialize, Zhuhai-based enterprises have demonstrated robust export growth to Serbia, with first-half exports totaling 174 million yuan, marking an 18.5% year-on-year increase. Statistics show that in the year since the agreement's implementation, Gongbei Customs has issued 1,863 China-Serbia Certificates of Origin for enterprises within its jurisdiction, covering export goods valued at 944 million yuan. These primarily include wind turbines, air conditioners, televisions, and small home appliances, delivering substantial economic benefits to businesses.

Xiangzhou Customs has implemented targeted measures through initiatives like the "Customs Chief Delivers Policies" and "Escort" policy briefing series. It established a direct customs-enterprise communication channel for origin-related services, optimized dedicated origin service lines and counters, and guided enterprises to proactively utilize and properly benefit from preferential policies. The "Smart Review + Self-Service Printing" visa facilitation model has been further enhanced, achieving a 96.23% self-service printing rate for China-Serbia certificates, enabling enterprises to fully leverage various convenience measures for optimal benefits. (By He Yucai)

 Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of GACC. The GACC version shall prevail.