There are new rules for declaration of imported cosmetics

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In order to further standardize the declaration work of imported cosmetics, on June 20, 2022, the General Administration of Customs issued Announcement No. 51 of 2022 (Announcement on Adjusting the Declaration Requirements for Some Imported Cosmetics) (hereinafter referred to as "Announcement No. 51"). This article will discuss relevant Key points are introduced.

Background of Announcement No. 51

On September 30, 2016, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued the "Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation on Adjusting the Consumption Tax on the Import of Cosmetics" (Caishui [2016] No. 48), adjusting the scope of consumption tax on cosmetics import to high-end cosmetics , the specific standard is that the imported duty-paid price of cosmetics is 10 yuan/ml (gram) or 15 yuan/piece (sheet) and above. In order to guide enterprises to correctly apply the tax items and rates of consumption tax on cosmetics imports, the General Administration of Customs issued Announcement No. 55 of 2016 (Announcement on Adjustments to the Consumption Tax Policy on Cosmetics) that year. Since 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the State Food and Drug Administration and other departments have successively issued a series of normative documents for cosmetics. This time, the General Administration of Customs revised Announcement No. 55 of 2016 and re-issued Announcement No. 51, which clarified the scope of cosmetics tax items, statutory units of measurement for cosmetics, declaration of statutory quantity of cosmetics, etc., starting from June 20, 2022 implementation.

Highlights of Announcement No. 51

Highlight 1. Clarify the scope of cosmetics tax items

Announcement content:“When the consignee of imported goods and their agent declares cosmetics under the imported goods tax items 3303 and 3304, they should fill in the customs declaration form in accordance with the following regulations.”

Interpretation:Announcement No. 55 of 2016 announced the consumption tax list for cosmetics imports, listing cosmetics tax items into ten-digit customs commodity codes. Due to the introduction of new products in the cosmetics market, the ten-digit product codes of cosmetics have changed accordingly, resulting in inconsistencies between the actual and effective cosmetic codes and the announced codes. 2022 is the year of revision of the "Coordinated System of Commodity Description and Coding". Taking into account the above factors, the General Administration of Customs has clarified the scope of cosmetics tax items at the item level after the revision of the coordination system to ensure that the scope of cosmetics tax items is consistent across years and for a long time. sex.

Highlight 2. The method of calculating the weight of different dosage forms of cosmetics is clarified by enumeration.

Announcement content:"For cosmetics whose packaging content is marked by weight, the first legal quantity shall be declared based on the net content, that is, the weight of the liquid/milky/paste/powder part."

Interpretation:Regarding how to calculate the net weight of cosmetics, the standards for filling out customs declaration forms for import and export goods have changed over the years. For example, the General Administration of Customs Announcement No. 20 of 2016 (Announcement on Revising the "Regulations on Filling out Customs Declaration Forms of Import and Export Goods of the Customs of the People's Republic of China") requires the net weight content of the inner direct packaging to be included; the General Administration of Customs Announcement No. 13 of 2017 (Announcement on Revising the "Regulations on Filling in the Customs Declaration Form for Import and Export Goods of the Customs of the People's Republic of China") requires filling in the declaration form according to the weight of the liquid part; Announcement No. 18 of the General Administration of Customs of 2019 (On the Revision of the "Revision of the Customs Declaration Form for Import and Export Goods of the Customs of the People's Republic of China") "Filling Specifications" announcement) requires filling in the weight of the liquid/milky/paste/powder part. Announcement No. 51 abandons the requirement of "excluding the weight of inner packaging and outer packaging" of Announcement No. 55 of 2016, and adopts the practice of filling in the customs declaration form in Announcement No. 18 of 2019, making the customs declaration form filling It is simpler and easier to operate, while avoiding inconsistencies in different announcement requirements.

Highlight 3. Expansion of independent packaging

Announcement content:"Packaging... declare the second legal quantity according to the quantity of bottles/cans/tubes with independent packaging."

Interpretation: Announcement No. 55 of 2016 defines independent packaging as "bottles (cans)", but the actual independent packaging of cosmetics includes more than just bottles and cans. For example, the independent packaging of lipstick is a stick, and the independent packaging of a facial mask is a bag, both of which exceed the scope of bottles (cans). Announcement No. 51 uses the expression "bottles/cans/tubes, etc." and lists the forms of independent packaging, providing operational space for the quantity declaration of various independent packaging.

Highlight 4. Clarified how to declare the weight of cosmetics with special packaging specifications such as "pieces" and "sheets"

Announcement content:"For cosmetics with packaging specifications of 'pieces' or 'sheets, the first statutory quantity shall be declared based on the net content, that is, the weight of the liquid/milky/paste/powder part... For other cosmetics with packaging specifications, refer to Paragraph (2) of this article A declaration is required.”

Interpretation: Unlike most cosmetics, which use grams/ml packaging specifications, the packaging specifications used for facial masks, facial patches, etc. are generally "pieces/sheets." For this type of cosmetics, Announcement No. 55 of 2016 requires the declaration of the first legal quantity based on the net weight of the product, but it is not clear whether the net weight of the product includes the weight of the cosmetic base material. Announcement No. 51 stipulates that the declared net content of such cosmetics is the weight of the liquid/milky/paste/powder part, that is, excluding the weight of the base material.