Issued by:  General Administration of Customs
Issue No.: General Administration of Customs Order No. 277
Issue Date: March 27, 2025
Effective Date: May 1, 2025
Links: http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/2480148/6442655/index.html

The Regulations provide a comprehensive framework for the declaration of import and export goods. Compared with General Administration of Customs Order No. 103 issued in 2003, the main contents and revisions are as follows:
1. Include the Tariff Law, relevant laws and administrative regulations on inspection and quarantine as legal bases.
2. The consignors and consignees of import and export goods ("consignors and consignees") and customs declaration firms are no longer required to register with the customs, but only need to perform the record-filing in advance.
3. Under the previous regulations, declarants were permitted to submit customs declarations either electronically or in paper format. The revised regulations, however, explicitly mandate electronic customs declarations as the standard procedure, permitting paper-based submissions only under exceptional circumstances and with prior customs approval.
4. Eliminates the mandatory registration requirement for customs declarants.
5. Clarifies the timeline for advance declarations. Specifically imported goods may be declared up to 7 days after departure or prior to port arrival, while export goods may be declared up to 7 days before entering the customs surveillance area.
6. Clarifies the timeline for "two-step declaration" (summary declaration followed by complete declaration): The complete declaration must be finalized within 14 days from the declaration date of the transport vehicle's arrival. Late completion will incur customs penalties.
7. The scope of "centralized declaration" has been expanded from designated zones to all ports for qualified goods, subject to customs approval. 
8. The customs pre-classification service has been abolished and replaced by advance ruling.