Posted June 1, 2018

As you may be aware, Chinese Customs has mandated that additional information be provided for all imports to, exports from, and transshipments via China effective for all shipments with a departure on or after 1 June, 2018. 

Although the order was issued in 2017, guidance as to the details of the order have not been forthcoming.

 

According to Chinese Customs, additional data points will be required for all shippers, consignees and notify parties. 

There are two open questions that remain unclear:

1.   Are the additional data points required at the Master Bill of Lading/Master Airway Bill (MBL/MAWB) level only, or also at the House Bill of Lading/House Airway Bill level (HBL/HAWB)?                    

                                                                                             

2.   Exactly what data points are required? Various notices have mentioned: 

We believe that EIN or equivalent, name and telephone number will make up the final required set, however, an official implementation by Chinese Customs remains to be seen. Obviously the difficult question is whether or not these data points will be required at the HBL/HAWB level. 

 

Given anecdotal reports of airlines stopping shipments due to incomplete data, we would like to be on the conservative side and provide more information in order to ensure your shipments are not delayed. Therefore, please be aware that we may reach out to you to confirm EIN numbers and/or other required information in the event that we do not have them or we have been pointedly asked for them by carriers.

  

Official announcement by China Customs (Chinese version): 

Should you have any questions regarding this update, please contact us directly.