Article I. The Measures are formulated in accordance with the Quarantine Law of the People’s Republic of China on Entry and Exit Animals and Plants and its enforcement regulations, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection and its enforcement regulations, Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China, and regulations in other relevant laws and rules, in order to prevent the import of fruits from carrying quarantine pests and toxic and harmful substances, and to protect China's agricultural production, ecological safety and human health.
Article II. The Measures are applicable to the inspection, quarantine and supervision of fresh fruits imported into China (hereinafter referred to as the Fruits).
Article III. The General Administration of Customs shall uniformly administer the supervision and administration of fruit inspection and quarantine throughout the country.
The competent customs shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of fruit inspection and quarantine in the areas under their jurisdiction.
Article IV. It is prohibited to carry or mail fruit into the country, except as otherwise provided for by laws and regulations.
Article V. Before signing a contract or agreement for the trade of imported fruits, an application shall be made to the General Administration of Customs for the examination and approval of quarantine inspection of imported fruits in accordance with the relevant provisions and the Quarantine Permit for Animals and Plants Entering into the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Quarantine Permit) shall be obtained.
Article VI. The Phytosanitary Certificate (hereinafter referred to as the Phytosanitary Certificate) (original) issued by the official inspection and quarantine department of the exporting country (area) shall be presented to the customs by the owner or his agent at the time of declaration.
Article VII. Phytosanitary Certificate shall meet the following requirements:
(I) The content and format of the Phytosanitary Certificate shall conform to the requirements of ISPM (International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures) No.12 Guidelines for Phytosanitary Certificates;
(II) If the container will be used for transportation into the country, the container number shall be indicated on the Phytosanitary Certificate;
(III) Where a protocol (including agreement, protocol, memorandum, etc., the same for content below) has been signed with China, it shall also comply with the requirements for the Phytosanitary Certificate in the relevant agreement.
Article VIII. The customs shall carry out inspection and quarantine for imported fruit in accordance with the following provisions:
(I) China's laws, regulations, standards and relevant provisions concerning inspection and quarantine;
(II) A bilateral agreement between the Government of China and the government of the exporting country (area);
(III) A protocol signed by the General Administration of Customs with the inspection and quarantine authorities of the exporting country (area);
(IV) The relevant requirements set out in the Quarantine Permit.
Article IX. The imported fruits shall meet the following inspection and quarantine requirement:
(I) Other fruits not listed in the Phytosanitary Certificate shall not be mixed or entrained together with those listed;
(II) The name of the fruit, the place of origin, the name or the code of the packing factory shall be indicated in Chinese or English on the package boxes;
(III) Not carrying quarantine pests, soil, branches, leaves and other plant residues prohibited by China from entering;
(IV) The detectable limit of toxic and harmful substances shall not exceed those regulated in the provisions of China's relevant safety and health standards;
(V) Where an exporting country (area) has signed an agreement or protocol with China, it shall also comply with the relevant requirements of the agreement or the protocol.
Article X. The Customs shall, in accordance with relevant working procedures and standards, carry out on-the-spot inspection and quarantine of the imported fruits entering into the territory:
(I) Verify the conformity of the cargo and the certificates;
(II) Check the Phytosanitary Certificate, the relevant information on the package box and the official quarantine mark in accordance with the requirements of Articles VII and IX;
(III) Check whether the fruit carries insect body, disease signs, branches and leaves, soil and disease signs; if upon the on-site quarantine, a suspected epidemic is found, it shall be sent to the laboratory for identification;
(IV) Take samples and send them to the laboratory for testing in accordance with relevant regulations and standards.
Article XI. The Customs shall carry out laboratory inspection and quarantine in accordance with the relevant working procedures and standards.
Identify insect bodies, germs and weeds found on the spot or in the laboratory quarantine, test the toxic and harmful substances on the samples taken on the spot, and for which, the results of inspection and quarantine should be issued.
Article XII. On the basis of the results of inspection and quarantine, the Customs shall handle the fruits imported as follows:
(I) If the cargoes pass the inspection and quarantine, the Inspection and Quarantine Certificate of Imported Cargos shall be issued and the cargoes shall be released;
(II) If quarantine organisms or other harmful organisms with quarantine significance are found, disinfestation treatment shall be carried out, for which Notice of Inspection and Quarantine Treatment shall be signed and issued; if they pass the treatment of disinfection and disinfestation, they shall be granted to be released;
(III) If the cargoes do not meet one of the requirements set forth in Article IX of the Measures, or the cargoes do not conform to the certificates, or the cargoes are disqualified upon inspection and quarantine and there is no effective method for handling pests, Notice of Inspection and Quarantine Treatment shall be issued, and the cargoes shall be returned or destroyed under the supervision of the Customs.
If it is necessary to claim for compensation, relevant inspection and quarantine certificates shall be issued.
Article XIII. In any of the following cases happens to the imported fruits, the General Administration of Customs shall suspend the import of such fruit, or the import from relevant fruit producing areas, orchards and packing factories as the case may be:
(I) Serious plant epidemics occur in or around the orchards, the processing plants or the surrounding areas of the imported fruits;
(II) Imported quarantine pests concerned by China are found through inspection and quarantine;
(III) The content of toxic and harmful substances found by inspection and quarantine exceeds those regulated in the provisions of China's relevant safety and health standards
(IV) Not in compliance with China's relevant laws and regulations on inspection and quarantine, bilateral agreements or relevant international standards.
If the fruits that are suspended from importation mentioned in the preceding paragraph need to be resumed, they shall be confirmed by the General Administration of Customs in accordance with the relevant regulations.
Article XIV. Fruit that are transshipped into China through Hong Kong or Macao Special Administrative Regions (hereinafter referred to as “Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions”) shall be transported by containers. The fruits shall be imported into China in the original cases and the original packages with the original phytoquarantine certificates (hereinafter referred to as the “Three Originals”). Before entering into China, the inspection authorities in Hong Kong and Macao which are approved by the General Administration of Customs shall confirm that whether or not the fruits are of the category that are allowed to import into the territory and the “Three Originals” shall be verified as well. If the cargoes are qualified, the inspection authorities in Hong Kong and Macao which are approved by the General Administration of Customs shall seal the containers with identifications and issue the relevant confirmation documents indicating the seal number, the original certificate number and the original seal number. Meanwhile, the confirmation documents will be transmitted to the customs of entry port in a timely manner. For a batch containing more than one container, one Phytosanitary Certificate may be attached, but it shall be confirmed by the inspection authorities of Hong Kong and Macao approved by the General Administration of Customs as well.
Article XV. The General Administration of Customs may, according to the needs of its work and with the consent of the inspection and quarantine authorities of the exporting country (area), send customs personnel to the place of origin for preliminary inspection, supervision of loading or investigation of the epidemic and the use of chemicals.
Article XVI. The imported fruits which have not completed the inspection and quarantine shall be stored in the places designated by the Customs and shall not be removed, sold or used without authorization.
The storage places of the imported fruits shall be supervised and managed by the local customs according to law and shall meet the following conditions:
(I) There is sufficient space for independent storage;
(II) There exist necessary facilities for quality preservation and fresh preservation;
(III) Meeting the requirements for quarantine and epidemic prevention;
(IV) The places should have the conditions for the disinfestation treatment.
Article XVII. If the imported fruits prohibited by the country is needed for special purposes such as scientific research, gift or exhibition., the cargo owner or his agent shall apply to the General Administration of Customs or the Customs authorized by the General Administration of Customs for the approval of special quarantine inspection in advance. When imported into China, he shall declare for inspection to the Customs at the port of entry and the cargo shall accept inspection.
Fruits used for exhibition shall be subject to customs supervision and control during the period of the exhibition, and shall not be transferred, sold or used without permission of the Customs; After the exhibition is over, it shall be returned or destroyed under the supervision of the Customs.
Article XVIII. For violations of the provisions in the Measures, the Customs shall impose penalties in accordance with the Quarantine Law of the People’s Republic of China on Entry and Exit Animals and Plants and its enforcement regulations, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection and its enforcement regulations, Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China and the regulations in other relevant laws and rules.
Article XIV. The General Administration of Customs shall be responsible for the interpretation of the Measures.
Article XX. The Measures shall come into force as of July 5, 2005. The Inspection and Quarantine Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Entry Fruits promulgated by the State Administration for Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine on December 9, 1999 shall be repealed at the same time.