Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department - Principle of Application

The following are the respective requirements of the Mainland of China and relevant signatory countries/regions on transhipment cargoes via Hong Kong :

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to the Mainland of China

If consignees or their agents (Importers) can provide the Mainland Customs with the following transportation documents when applying for convention tariff or preferential rate, the Mainland Customs will not require importers to provide the "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED or China Inspection Co. Ltd. (CIC Ltd.):
1. For transhipment cargo via Hong Kong by air or sea - The single through bill of lading issued by international liner transportation operators and their trusted agents¹, civil aviation transportation enterprises, international express enterprises. The departure point, which is within the boundary of the origin country/ region and the destination point which is within the boundary of the Mainland of China, should be displayed on the same page of the single through bill of lading;
2. For containerized cargo under the FTAs (e.g. ECFA and The China-Korea Free Trade Agreement) of which the electronic data of origin country/ region could be exchanged - Through bills of lading which can prove that the container number and seal number are remain unchanged during their whole transportation journey.
If the above two requirements could not be fulfilled, importers are required to observe the following requirements to provide "Certificate of Non-manipulation"²:
1. For both containerized and bulk cargo, which are required to have inspection and quarantine by the CIC Ltd. during their stay in Hong Kong, importer is required to submit a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by the CIC Ltd.
2. For containerized cargo which is unsealed not owing to the inspection and quarantine conducted by the CIC Ltd. and bulk cargo requiring no inspection and quarantine during their transhipment stay in Hong Kong, importer is required to submit a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED.
3. For containerized cargo remained intact during their transhipment stay in Hong Kong, importer is required to submit a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by either C&ED or CIC Ltd.
When submission of " Certificate of Non-manipulation "² to the Mainland Customs is required, importers are required to specify "Certificate of Non-manipulation" and the Certificate Number when making import declaration to the Mainland Customs.

¹The Mainland Customs may request to present the "Certificate of Non-manipulation" even though cargoes are covered by single through bill of lading issued by trusted agents.
²The Mainland Customs no longer demands (unless otherwise requires) traders to produce an original copy of "Certificate of Non-manipulation" to apply for preferential tariff when the electronic information from such Certificate tallies with those in the import declaration.

[Remarks: For goods requiring inspection and quarantine, please contact CIC Ltd. for details.]

For related announcement by the Mainland Customs, please refer to the following website :
http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/302266/302267/630727/index.html

Mainland Customs Notice

The Mainland Customs promulgated a Mainland Customs Notice (No. 26 of 2017) on 29 June 2017 concerning the submission of "Certificate of Non-manipulation" by importers or their agents (hereafter referred as "Importers"). Content of the new arrangement in the subject Mainland Customs Notice is extracted below: -

In accordance with Mainland Customs Notice (No. 52 of 2016), the Importers are required to submit Certificates of Non-manipulation. With effective from 10 July 2017, if the Mainland Customs has already received the electronic information about the "Certificate of Non-manipulation", which tallies with those in the import declaration submitted by the Importers, the Mainland Customs will no longer demand traders to produce an original copy of the "Certificate of Non-manipulation".

If the Mainland Customs has not received the electronic information about the "Certificate of Non-manipulation" or when requested, importers will be required to produce the original copy of "Certificate of Non-manipulation".

The Mainland Customs Notice (No. 26 of 2017) has been uploaded onto the following website: http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/302266/302267/711028/index.html

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to Taiwan

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to Korea

Bulk cargo, if a single through bill of lading cannot be provided and storage is required during their transhipment stay in Hong Kong (except those cargo stored at recognized locations¹for less than seven days), a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED is required.
Containerized cargo, which is unsealed causing to the change of container number or seal number during their transhipment stay in Hong Kong, and bulk cargo which require cargo consolidation / vanning / devanning / repacking in Hong Kong, a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED is required.

¹ Kwai Tsing 1-9 Container Terminals, Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal, Super Terminal One, The Hong Kong International Airport Express Centre, Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal, Asia Airfreight Terminal, DHL Central Asia Hub

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to Singapore

If a single through bill of lading cannot be provided for containerized cargo and bulk cargo, a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED is required.
For containerized cargo, which is unsealed causing to the change of container number or seal number during their transhipment stay in Hong Kong, and bulk cargo which require cargo consolidation / vanning / devanning / repacking in Hong Kong, a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED is required.

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to Australia

For transhipment cargo via Hong Kong to Australia, traders are not necessary to apply for a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED.
When transhipment cargo via Hong Kong arrives Australia, traders can directly apply for preferential tariff from the Australian Customs with supporting document.

For related information provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australian, please refer to the following website:

https://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/in-force/chafta/doing-business-with-china/Pages/chafta-frequently-asked-questions.aspx

Summary Table

ECFA, The China-Korea Free Trade Agreement, The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (To Korea) and RCEP (To Korea).

			To the Mainland of China^4,5	To other places
			To the Mainland of China^4,5	Taiwan	Korea
Able to provide single through bill of lading¹	I	Containerized Cargo & Bulk Cargo	X Not Required	✓ Required	X Not Required
Not able to provide single through bill of lading	II	Containerized Cargo²	X Not Required	✓ Required	X Not Required
	III	Bulk Cargo³	✓ Required		Without storage	X Not Required
					With temporary storage at recognized locations in HK⁶	X Not Required
					With storage in HK	✓ Required
Cargo consolidation / vanning / devanning / repacking in HK	IV	Containerized Cargo & Bulk Cargo	✓ Required + Customs supervision	✓ Required + Customs supervision	✓ Required + Customs supervision

Other FTAs and Preferential Trade Agreement

			To the Mainland of China^4,5	To other places
			To the Mainland of China^4,5	Singapore	Australia⁷
Able to provide single through bill of lading¹	I	Containerized Cargo & Bulk Cargo	X Not Required	X Not Required	X Not Required
Not able to provide single through bill of lading	II	Containerized Cargo²	✓ Required	✓ Required	X Not Required
Not able to provide single through bill of lading	III	Bulk Cargo³	✓ Required	✓ Required	X Not Required
Cargo consolidation / vanning / devanning / repacking in HK	IV	Containerized Cargo & Bulk Cargo	✓ Required + Customs supervision	✓ Required + Customs supervision	X Not Required

Remarks

The Single Through Bill of Lading means a bill of lading (including Air Waybill) issued with detailed information of the shipment including transportation details, port/place of departure and destination, description and quantity of the cargo, etc. showing on a single set of bills of lading.
Able to provide Through Bills of Lading which can prove that the container number and seal number of the container remain unchanged during its whole transportation journey.
Able to provide Through Bills of Lading which can prove that the description of goods, number of packages and weight remain unchanged during its whole transportation journey.
(If applicable) Upon submission of Import Declaration to the Mainland Customs, the importers have to specify "Certificate of Non-manipulation" and the Certificate Number.
For all containerized and bulk cargo, which are required to have inspection and quarantine by the CIC Ltd. during their stay in Hong Kong, trader is required to apply the "Certificate of Non-manipulation" from the CIC Ltd. direct.
Storage at recognized locations (Kwai Tsing 1-9 Container Terminals, Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal, SuperTerminal One, The Hong Kong International Airport Express Centre, Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal, Asia Airfreight Terminal, DHL Central Asia Hub) for not more than seven days.
Australian Border Force accepts traders to apply for preferential tariff without applying Certificate of Non-manipulation from the C&ED.
Trader has the responsibility to provide the Certificate of Non-manipulation or supporting documents to the importing country/ region to prove their eligibility for preferential tariff.
In the course of Customs clearance, transhipment cargo, which originally needs not to apply for "Certificate of Non-manipulation", may be selected by C&ED for examination. Upon receiving application by traders after examination, C&ED may issue a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" after vetting the application.