New regulations for importing and exporting plastics and their products in 2023

        Plastics are widely used in various applications, and imported plastics and plastic products are diverse. The 2023 edition of the "Catalogue of Standardized Declaration of Import and Export Commodities of the Customs of the People's Republic of China" has some new changes in the standardized declaration requirements for plastics and their products compared with previous years, and enterprises should pay attention to this when filling in the declaration.

        Main categories of imported and exported plastics and their products

        Chapter 39 of the Customs Tariff of the People's Republic of China - Plastics and their products, is divided into two sub-chapters according to the processing of plastics: the first sub-chapters include polymers in primary forms (3901-3914), and the second sub-chapters include waste and scraps, semi-finished products and finished products (3915-3926).

        ◆Polymers in primary form

        Declaration elements include product name, appearance, ingredient content, type and proportion of monomer units, specific gravity, base material source, grade, brand, model, contract date, purpose, etc.

        ◆Waste and scraps

        Declaration elements include product name, source, ingredients, whether it has been destructively treated, and if it is in rolls, whether it has an axis.

        ◆Semi-finished products and finished products

        Declaration elements include product name, appearance, use, ingredients, material, whether it is equipped with accessories, bursting pressure, whether it is made with other materials, whether it is single-sided self-adhesive, type, brand, specification size, model, etc.

        Main regulatory declaration elements for import and export plastics and their products

        ◆Appearance (shape, transparency, color, etc.)

        Refers to the actual appearance of the product itself, mainly referring to the color, transparency and shape of the product. It should be noted that color, transparency and shape in tax codes 3901 to 3914 are important elements that reflect the state of the product, and none of them can be missing. Transparency can usually be reported as "transparent", "semi-transparent", "opaque", etc. For example, goods under tariff item 39.01 can be reported as "granules; transparent; white, etc.". Goods under tariff item 39.16 can be reported as "strips", "rods", "profiles", "special profiles", etc.

        ◆Ingredient content

        Refers to the types and contents of various substances contained in the goods.

        ◆Type and proportion of monomer units

        Refers to simple compounds that can undergo polymerization or polycondensation reactions to become high molecular weight compounds. Generally, they are unsaturated, cyclic, or low molecular weight compounds containing two or more functional groups. The type and content of the monomers must be reported. Note: "Ingredient content" and "type and proportion of monomer units" should be clearly distinguished. For example, the "ingredient content" of polyethylene under tariff number 3901.1000 can be reported as "polyethylene 100%"; "type and proportion of monomer units" can be reported as "ethylene 100%". For ethylene-propylene copolymer, its “ingredient content” can be declared as “ethylene-propylene copolymer 99%, carbon black 1%”; its monomer unit can be declared as “ethylene 8%; propylene 92%”.

        ◆Source of base material (recycled material, bottle flakes, new material, secondary brand material)

        Refers to imported plastics under tariff items 3901-3914. If it comes from recycled waste plastics, it should be reported as "recycled material". If it is a plastic in a primary shape obtained by polymerizing low-molecular raw materials, it should be reported as "new material". If it is a plastic in a primary shape obtained by polymerizing low-molecular raw materials but one or more performance indicators do not meet the standards of new materials, it should be reported as "secondary brand material". Note: The source of the base material should be reported from the "four choices" in the brackets.

        ◆Brand (Chinese or foreign name)

        Refers to the brand logo added by the manufacturer or distributor to the product. The Chinese or foreign brand name needs to be reported. For example: "Mitsui 三井" etc. Note: The brand must be reported in Chinese or foreign language. For those without Chinese and foreign language brands, "No Chinese and foreign language brands" should be reported. It cannot be simply reported as "None".

        ◆Purpose (film grade, injection grade, blow molding grade, injection molding grade, wire drawing grade, cable grade, etc.)

        Refers to the aspects and scope of the application of the goods in this chapter. The "purpose" of tariff items 3901-3914 refers to the downstream processing level (such as "film grade", "injection grade", "blow molding grade", "injection molding grade", "wire drawing grade", "cable grade", etc.), which shall be reported according to the processing level; if there is no clear downstream processing level, fill in the aspects and scope of the product application, that is, the actual purpose. The requirement of "purpose" in tariff items 39.15-39.26 refers only to the aspect and scope of the product application, that is, the actual use.

        ◆Grade (genuine, non-genuine)

        refers to whether the performance of the product meets the preset standards at the time of production. If the product meets the preset standards, fill in "genuine", if one or more performance indicators of the product do not meet the preset standards, fill in "non-genuine". Note: The grade should be filled in from the "two choices" in the brackets.

        ◆Whether it is made with other materials

        If the product is made with other materials, the specific materials must be reported, such as "made with textiles"; otherwise, "not made with other materials" should be reported.

        ◆Material

        Refers to the type of material or plastic variety used in the product. For finished products, fill in the material type or more specific plastic variety according to the actual situation. For example, the product under the tariff number 3917.2100 should be filled in as "polyethylene".

        ◆Specifications and dimensions

        Refers to the size of the product. For example, fill in "length, width, thickness" for plates, "width, single layer thickness" for rolls, and "outer diameter, inner diameter, length" for tubes. Note: In principle, "no specifications" cannot be filled in, and irregular shapes should be filled in as "irregular shapes".