Measures for the Registration and Record of Foreign Trade Dealers

It is specified by this Measure that foreign trade dealers engaging in import and export of goods or technologies shall register at the Ministry of Commerce or the agency of the Ministry for record, except those that are otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations, or specified by the Ministry of Commerce, not subjecting to such registration. Should the foreign trade dealers fail to register in accordance with this Measure, they shall not be processed by the Customs for their customs declaration. Such registration shall be managed by appropriate local authorities on the national network. The MOC entrusts the competent local departments in charge of foreign trade (hereinafter referred to as the archival filing and registration organs) to be responsible for handling the formalities of archival filing and registration of foreign trade business operators of their own regions. The entrusted archival filing and registration organs may not entrust other institutions to conduct archival filing and registration without authorization. An archival filing and registration organ shall have the fixed office place as is necessary for handling the archival filing and registration, and the full time personnel of management, type-writing, technology support, and maintenance, and shall have the relevant facilities linking with the network system of archival filing and registration of foreign trade business operators of the MOC. The MOC may issue written letter of entrustment to the archival filing and registration organs meeting the preceding conditions, issue the seal of archival filing and registration made under the unified supervision of the MOC, and publicize them.

It also specifies that the archival filing and registration organs shall handle the formalities of archival filing and registration within 5 days from the date of receiving the above-mentioned documents submitted by a foreign trade business operator, and seal a seal of archival filing and registration on the Registration Form. The archival filing and registration organs shall, at the time of completing the formalities for archival filing and registration, record and keep wholly and accurately the information of archival filing and registration and the registration documents of any foreign trade business operator, and establish records of archival filing and registration according to law.

Where, before the implementation of the present Measures, a foreign trade business operator has obtained the business qualification of import and export of goods and technology according to law, and is undertaking the import and export business activities only within the originally approved business scope, he/it does not need to go through the archival filing and registration formalities. If the foreign trade business operator conducts business activities of import and export exceeding the originally approved business scope, he/it shall have to handle the archival filing and registration in accordance with the present Measures.

The present Measures are promulgated as Decree by the Ministry of Commerce on June 25, 2004 and shall come into force as of July 1, 2004.