China’s General Administration of Customs this week released guidance for third party inspection agencies to apply for a license by the Chinese Government to conduct pre-shipment inspections for scrap prepared for the Chinese market.
Although the announcement follows through on a rule that was instituted on February 1, it is a positive step forward toward providing a choice of inspection agency to exporters. Read the guidance here.
This also reveals that Customs will now have oversight of all pre-shipment inspections. Furthermore, we have learned from contacts in China that the Chinese Government’s restructuring may have led to the dissolution of AQSIQ. An official Government announcement has not been made, but we believe that AQSIQ’s inspection and quarantine functions are now under the purview of Customs. It is uncertain what this means for companies that do business in and with China, such as the export licensing system.