I. Background
In November 2024, the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council issued the Action Plan to Effectively Reduce Logistics Costs Nationwide (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), which explicitly called for accelerating the establishment of a robust multimodal transport system. This Announcement is hereby issued to implement the requirements of the Action Plan, support the development of sea-rail intermodal transport and water-water transshipment services, and enhance the logistics efficiency for the flow of Customs-supervised goods in multimodal transport operations at ports, transshipment points, and supervising Customs districts. It introduces innovative Customs supervision models tailored to the needs of multimodal transport development, aims to provide Customs solutions compatible with the"single document" system and "single container" system, effectively reduce logistics costs, and facilitate a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. Building upon the experience gained from the previous pilot program for the rail-road multimodal transport business model for exported goods, the General Administration of Customs has decided to expand the pilot to include imported and exported goods, initiating the application of multimodal transport to sea-rail and water-water operations.
II. Significance and Expected Outcomes
This pilot program for the multimodal transport business model on imports and exportswill help leverage the critical role of multimodal transport in developing China's modern logistics system, further reduce nationwide logistics costs, achieve efficient integration of transportation resources and seamless coordination of transport operations, and accelerate the establishment of a modern logistics operating system, characterized by "hubs, channels, and networks", that effectively connects domestic and international markets.
III. Policy Guide
(I) Business Scope: The scope of this pilot program for the multimodal transport business modelcovers the sea-rail intermodal transport model and the water-water transshipment model for imported and exported goods. Specifically, it applies to operations where the domestic leg of transport is by rail or waterway, and the cross-border leg is via water transport. Other multimodal transport models will be introduced gradually, with their scope refined and expanded based on the stable operation of the current pilot models.
(II) Regulatory Classification of Goods: This Announcement is formulated in accordance with the Measures of the Customs of the People's Republic of China on the Supervision of the Goods Transited between Customs Offices. Shipmentsunder multimodal transport model are defined as goods in Customs transit. Under this Announcement, Customs will apply Customs transit supervision to such goods by reviewing and clearing the data submitted in the multimodal transport application form. This process eliminates the need for enterprises to separately declare or undergo Customs transit procedures.
(III) Available Customs Clearance Models: Customs encourages eligible enterprises under this pilot to actively adopt the multimodal transport business model. It also supports the use of either the national Customs clearance integration model or Customs transit for multi-leg transport procedures for completing the required Customs formalities for multimodal shipments.
(IV) Procedures for Applying and Cancelling Data Transmission Authorization: Prior to transmitting multimodal transport data to Customs authority, the Multimodal Transport Operator (MTO) or its agent must submit a data transmission application to the competent Customs at its place of business registration or principal place of business. Similarly, the operator of the relevant Customs-supervised facility (hereinafter referred to as facility operator) must submit the same data transmission application to the competent Customs where that facility is located. To cancel its authorization to transmit multimodal transport data, an MTO (or its agent) or a facility operator must apply to do so at the Customs authority that originally granted it.
(V) Loading, Unloading, Storage, and Transshipment of Goods under Multimodal Transport: Unless the transshipment involves rail transport and is carried out by the same MTO responsible for the domestic transport leg, all loading, unloading, storage, and transshipment of goods under the multimodal transport pilot must be conducted within a Customs-supervised facility.
(VI) Procedures for Flexible Transshipment Arrangements: If goods under multimodal transport require an additional or a change to the designated transshipment location (for loading, unloading, or transshipment) while in transit, the MTO or its agent must file adomestic logistics change notification with Customs authority and may proceed with the transshipment at the new location only after obtaining Customs approval.
(VII) Procedures for Flexible Departure of Goods: To facilitate flexible allocation of transport capacity for domestic carriers, containerized goods covered by the same multimodal transport sub-Bill of Lading may be released for departure and reported as arrived in separate batches. Accordingly, the deadline for submitting departure information is adjusted: it must now be submitted promptly after departure instead of prior to departure.
(VIII) Procedures for Cargo Splitting and Consolidation: For imported or exported shipments that need to be split, the MTO may apply to Customs authority at the place of destination or departure either for splitting the Bill of Lading, waybill or multimodal transport sub-Bill of Lading, or for making amendments to the declared number of packages and weight. For exported shipments that require consolidation, multiple consignments may be grouped under a single multimodal transport application.
(IX) Procedures for Cancelling the Export of Goods under Multimodal Transport: If the export of goods is cancelled after the multimodal transport application has been cleared, the MTO must terminate the multimodal transport application after the related Customs declaration has been successfully cancelled. In such cases, the goods are not required to be returned to the place of departure.
(Prepared by: Department of Port Control, Ningbo Customs, and Xiamen Customs)
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