Laws of the People's Republic of China

Ministry of Commerce

Announcement of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China

No.60

In accordance with the Interim Measures for Administration of Import Tariff Quota of Agricultural Products (Decree of the Ministry of Commerce, and National Development and Reform Commission [2003]No.4), the Rules for the Distribution of the Import Tariff Quota of Palm Oil, Bean Oil, Rape Seed Oil and Sugar in 2005 are formulated and hereby notified.

The Ministry of Commerce

Sep. 29, 2004

Rules for the Distribution of the Import Tariff Quota of Palm Oil, Bean Oil, Rape Seed Oil and Sugar in 2005

In accordance with the Interim Measures for Administration of Import Tariff Quota of Agricultural Products (Decree of the Ministry of Commerce, and National Development and Reform Commission [2003]No.4), the quantity of tariff quota of palm oil, bean oil, rape seed oil and sugar, application qualification and the rules for the distribution in 2005 are hereby announced as follows;

I.

The quantity of import tariff quota of palm oil, bean oil, rape seed oil and sugar in 2005:

Palm oil bean: 3,168,000 tons, of which state-run trade accounts for 10%; bean oil: 3,587,100 tons, of which state-run trade accounts for 10%; rape seed oil: 1,243,000 tons, 10% of which is for state-run trade; sugar: 1,945,000 tons, 70% of which is for state-run trade.

II.

The applicant of the import tariff quota of palm oil, bean oil, rape seed oil and sugar shall have the following basic qualifications: registering with administration department for industry and commerce before October 1, 2001 and having passed the latest annual examination and inspection of administration department for industry and commerce in accordance with pertinent provisions; and having no record of violation of import provisions in terms of custom, foreign exchange, industry and commerce, taxation and quality control in the year of 2003 and 2004; and no violation of the Interim Measures for Administration of Import Tariff Quota of Agricultural Products

On the premise of having the said qualifications, the quota applicant must fulfill one of the following qualifications:

1.

Palm Oil

(1)

a state-trading enterprise;

(2)

a central enterprise with state reserve function;

(3)

an enterprise which has applied and received the palm oil import tariff quota in 2004;

(4)

a food manufacturing enterprise taking palm oil as direct producing raw material using 3,000 tons of palm oil or above annually, having registered capital not less than RMB 3 million yuan and annual sales volume not less than RMB 30 million yuan.

A grease refining enterprise taking palm oil as raw material, dealing with crude oil not less than 200 tons per day, having registered capital not less than RMB 5 million yuan and annual sales volume not less than RMB 100million yuan; or

(5)

an enterprise which is engaged in processing trade using palm oil as raw materials.

2.

Bean Oil

(1)

a state-trading enterprise;

(2)

a central enterprise with state reserve function;

(3)

an enterprise which has applied and received import tariff quota of the bean oil in 2004;

(4)

a grease processing enterprise producing refined oil, dealing with 200 tons of crude oil or above per day, with RMB 5 million yuan or above in registered capital, and 100 million yuan or above in annual sales volume; or

(5)

an enterprise which is engaged in processing trade using bean oil as raw materials.

3.

Rape Seed Oil

(1)

a state-trading enterprise;

(2)

a central enterprise with state reserve function;

(3)

an enterprise which has applied and received the rape seed oil import tariff quota in 2004;

(4)

a grease processing enterprise producing refined oil, dealing with 200 tons of crude oil or above per day, with RMB 5 million yuan or above in registered capital and 100 million yuan or above in annual sales volume; or

(5)

an enterprise which is engaged in processing trade using rape seed oil as raw materials.

4.

Sugar

(1)

a state-trading enterprise;

(2)

a central enterprise with state reserve function;

(3)

enterprises which has applied and received the sugar import tariff quota in 2004;

(4)

a sugar-making enterprise processing 600 tons of raw sugar or above annually, with RMB 10 million yuan or above in registered capital and RMB 200million yuan or above in annual sales volume; or

(5)

an enterprise which is engaged in processing trade using sugar as raw materials.

As for the 12 western provinces and regions determined by the state, and Yanbian autonomous prefecture of Jilin province; Enshi area of Hubei province; Xiangxi autonomous prefecture of Hunan province, the conditions of application for the tariff quotas of palm oil, bean oil, rape seed oil, in terms of producing capacity, registered capital and sales volume shall be carried out according to the half of the above standards.

III.

The tariff quota applicant shall provide the following materials:

1.

the application report on import tariff quotas of agricultural products;

2.

the application form of import tariff quotas of agricultural products;

3.

the copy of the business license (duplicate) of the enterprise as legal person which has passed the latest annual examination and inspection of administration department for industry and commerce in accordance with pertinent provisions;

4.

auditing report of enterprise in 2003 provided by qualified audit firm or the copy of value-added tax application form of general taxpayer in 2003 submitted when making annual tax inspection in 2003.

The applicants with import performance shall only provide the materials stipulated under subparagraph (1) to (3). New application enterprise shall provide all the materials stipulated above, and if built and put into production after 2003, the new application enterprise shall provide the approval paper to the feasibility study report of the construction project granted by the department in charge (or the approval papers of projects proposal) and the check and acceptance report.

IV.

The basic principles of import tariff quotas allocation of agricultural products cited above are in the light of historical import performance, productive capacity, sales volume as well as other relevant commercial standards

1.

In case the total quantity of import tariff quotas for being allocated is available to meet the total application quantity of qualified applicants, the quantity of tariff quotas shall be allocated according to the application quantity of the applicants.

2.

In case the total quantity of import tariff quota for being allocated fails to meet the total application quantity of qualified applicants, for general trading import, the applicant with import performance may take priority in obtaining the quota in equal proportion based on the quota quantity of previous year. For those without import performance, in accordance with their processing capacity and sales volume, the quantity of import tariff quotas shall be allocated in proportion among them. The one whose producing capacity and sales volume is up to the minimum standard shall obtain the minimum quota allocation quantity, the one whose producing capacity and sales volume is above the minimum standard shall obtain more quota in proportion. After the allocation mentioned above, any surplus quota for being allocated available shall be allocated in proportion according to the quota of the applicant in previous year. The applicant shall obtain the application quantity if application quantity of the applicant is below the quantity allocated in proportion. With a view to facilitating the operation of the enterprise, the quota shall be allocated by 100 tons as the minimum unit.

V.

The time of applying for the import tariff quota of palm oil, bean oil, rape seed oil and sugar in 2005 shall be valid from October 15, 2004 to October 30, 2004. The applicants must submit the application to the organ authorized by the Ministry of Commerce at the place where they register with the department for industry and commerce within the time stipulated above. The quota applicants may draw the application form of import tariff quota of agricultural products from the organ authorized by the Ministry of Commerce or download (copy) from the website of the Ministry of Commerce: http:/www.mofcom.gov.cn (see Appendix)

VI.

The organ authorized by the Ministry of Commerce shall be responsible for the application of registered enterprises within its own region, serve the application of the qualified enterprise to the Ministry of Commerce prior to November 30, 2004 and send a copy to National Development and Reform Commission simultaneously.

VII.

The Ministry of Commerce shall issue import tariff quota license of agricultural products to end users through the authorized organ prior to January 1, 2005

Appendix: the application form of import tariff quota of agricultural products(omitted)