China export statutory inspection: is this booking on the catalogue, and who files in Single Window

Bottom line:

Export goods listed on GACC’s catalogue of imports and exports subject to compulsory inspection, and other export goods that statutes and administrative regulations require to be inspected, need statutory inspection. The spine is the implementing regulation of the Import and Export Commodity Inspection Law and that law.
The consignee, consignor or their agent files through Single Window or the Customs government platform with the goods declaration. Territorial inspection and export certificates sit in GACC Announcement 2023 No. 27.
The catalogue and supervision codes follow the current announcement. Announcement 2026 No. 97, for example, only adjusted some tariff lines. Membership wired to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED buys a showcase. It does not inspect. Do not invent an official inspection fee or a completion-day count. Corpable does not file and does not guarantee release.

Tuesday the broker replies: “This HS code carries B. You need statutory inspection. Go to the old CIQ office, get a clearance slip, send it by Friday.” Sales dates last year’s clearance-slip scan, then staples a phytosanitary certificate and the IPPC mark on the pallet into one PDF. The broker says that is not phytosanitary, not a pallet stamp, and not an expired clearance slip.

The plant asks whether every lamp needs statutory inspection. Finance asks whether an official fee is bundled with Verified Supplier membership. The forwarder wants the Alibaba.com master login “so we can see if the product is certified.” All three sentences miss. Statutory inspection faces whether this booking’s ten-digit HS code sits on the current catalogue. The applicant is the consignee, consignor or agent. The window is Single Window, not the store back office.

The same booking also stacks three papers that “look like inspection”: a third-party survey, Verified Supplier factory photos, and last year’s clearance slip from another booking. Customs wants this booking’s application and result in Single Window or the inspection system. Membership wired to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED buys a showcase. Customs cannot see that store.

Do not reply “we have a CIQ relationship, three days guaranteed.” Stop three things first: do not redate an old clearance slip, do not retitle a phytosanitary or pallet photo, and do not rewrite a lab quote as a Customs official fee. How the HS code is locked sits on HS classification. The declaration path sits on the export declaration. The usable order is: match the catalogue, name who clicks apply, walk Single Window and territorial inspection, split samples, phytosanitary and packaging identification, and only then stop a fail.

Match the catalogue first: does this ten-digit HS code sit on the current compulsory list

Articles 3 and 4 of the implementing regulation write that GACC, under the Inspection Law, draws up, adjusts and publishes the catalogue of imports and exports subject to compulsory inspection, and that goods listed on the catalogue, plus other imports and exports that statutes and administrative regulations require to be inspected, receive statutory inspection. The catalogue is published at least thirty days before it takes effect; in an emergency it may be published no later than the day it takes effect.

Sales should not memorise a three-year-old “statutory inspection Excel.” First get the broker’s written ten-digit HS code, then match the current catalogue and the tariff supervision condition. On the export side the letter B commonly marks export commodity inspection. Whether this booking carries B, and what B requires, follows the current GACC announcement and the local Customs house. Announcement 2026 No. 97 only added an export-inspection supervision condition on some ammonium-sulfate lines. That is the point: the catalogue moves by tariff line. Last booking’s lamp method will not cover this booking’s fertiliser, and it will not cover the next lamp booking either.

If the HS code is not locked, do not “do statutory inspection first.” When classification conflicts, stop stuffing and stop the declaration, see the HS page. Swapping a neighbouring code because it is “easier to inspect” damages inspection and classification together. If the goods are off the catalogue and no other statute requires inspection, do not invent a homemade “exemption certificate” on a statutory-inspection path.

A spoken “this one does not need inspection” still needs the broker to name this booking’s HS code and supervision condition in writing. If another statute still requires inspection, even when the goods do not look like “catalogue goods,” ask the local Customs house. Article 5 leaves quality inspection of medicines, measuring instruments, boilers and pressure vessels, ships, aircraft and nuclear pressure equipment to the bodies named in those other statutes. Do not rewrite that set as “also statutory inspection, we will handle it.”

Write the catalogue check as three steps. First: who confirms this booking’s ten-digit HS code in writing. Second: whether the current catalogue and tariff supervision condition include export inspection. Third: whether the local Customs house will inspect this booking on site or sample it. Put the three steps in one mail to the broker. Do not reply only “we know we need statutory inspection.”

The regulation also writes spot checks on goods outside statutory inspection, and verification administration. Verification faces imports and exports that sit under a licensing system or a mandatory certification rule: check the documents and match documents to goods. GACC, after consulting the relevant departments, draws up, adjusts and publishes that verification catalogue. Whether this booking is catalogue statutory inspection, verification or a spot check are three sentences. Do not merge them into “Customs wants a look.” Get the broker to name which one, then collect factory-inspection papers.

Article 31 writes that Customs may, as needed, supervise and inspect listed export goods before they leave the plant, including checks on the producer’s quality assurance and inspection of the goods before they leave. That is not a store audit and not a Verified Supplier on-site review. If Customs is coming to the plant, prepare against the local house’s written notice. Do not send the Alibaba.com master login to the inspectors.

Who clicks apply: consignee, consignor or agent, not the showcase name

Article 11 writes that the consignee or consignor may file the inspection formalities themselves or appoint an inspection-declaration enterprise. The government-platform guide writes the applicant for statutory inspection as the consignee, consignor or agent. They log into the platform or Single Window, send the electronic data and attachments through the goods-declaration module under the entry-completion rules. Customs reviews. What meets the rules is accepted. What does not comes back with one list of corrections.

When a Hong Kong company issues the PI, an inland plant stands as the operating unit and a broker transmits under an authorisation, the applicant is usually that inland unit or its agent. A Hong Kong company has no mainland Customs registration code. A business-registration certificate or a store name cannot upload as the applicant. Membership buys a showcase. Customs cannot see that store.

Role on this booking	Can they be the applicant?	Do this first
An inland operating unit registered with Customs, or its broker	Yes	File with this booking’s goods declaration in Single Window
Hong Kong contract seller or the Alibaba.com showcase	Cannot apply directly	Name in writing which registered firm this declaration will use
A forwarder who “covers inspection” but cannot name the operating unit	There is still no applicant	Ask for the operating unit and the authorisation today. Do not hand over the master login first

An agent filing in the principal’s name must submit an authorisation. The principal must give a true account of the matter entrusted. A spoken “we have it covered” will not fill that box. What sales needs today is a written authorisation and the operating unit’s Customs registration code, not the store master login.

Attachments follow the guide and the local house’s list: contract, invoice, packing list, transport document, brokerage authorisation, factory-inspection papers, as required this week. Do not staple a Verified Supplier audit or a membership receipt into the inspection folder. Goods description, the document checklist, the invoice and the packing list tell one set of facts.

Single Window and territorial inspection: not another trip to the old CIQ office

After the institutional reform, entry-exit inspection and quarantine sit with Customs. Announcement 2023 No. 27 writes that applicants may use Single Window or Internet+Customs to file territorial inspection of export goods and applications for export inspection and quarantine certificates; book an inspection in the clearance-appointment module and read the detail in appointment inquiry; file an electronic ledger and query the application under territorial inspection inside goods declaration; apply for a certificate in the issuance module, with self-print or collection on site. Single Window provides authenticity lookup for cloud-issued certificates.

During the trial, outbound territorial inspection completes in the inspection system, while the old system and certificate path remain as backup. Which set this booking uses follows the local house’s writing and the live menu. Do not let a WeChat “internal window” replace the official path. Download the current handbook from Single Window. Do not treat a three-year-old screenshot as this week’s menu.

Customs decides, against its working rules, the firm’s credit category and product risk, whether to inspect on site or sample. Do not read “AEO Advanced Certified Enterprise” as a waiver on this booking. How AEO is applied for sits on advanced certification. That page will not fill this booking’s statutory-inspection box.

The service guide writes that this matter is handled online, the fee column is no, and the completion-time columns are none. If a lab, a testing house or an agent issues a separate bill, pay the issuer. Do not rewrite it as a “Customs official fee” on the PI. 12360 can confirm which subordinate house this booking faces.

Article 24 also writes that export goods subject to statutory inspection are inspected at the place of production; GACC may designate another place. Article 25 still describes inspection at origin, a port exchange of certificates and a port check. Today’s operating system is Single Window and territorial inspection. It is not another queue at an “old CIQ window” for a redated clearance slip. This booking follows the local house’s written path.

How to read supervision code B: the catalogue moves, last booking will not cover this one

A tariff supervision condition is a string of letters, not a spoken promise of “inspection or not.” On the export side B commonly faces export commodity inspection. The same HS code may stack other letters. Ask the broker for a screenshot or a written line that names this booking’s ten-digit code and the current supervision condition. Do not listen only to “it carries B.” Announcement 2026 No. 97 added export inspection on some ammonium-sulfate lines. The same family of goods, different ten-digit codes, different results.

Lamps, furniture, fertiliser and food do not share one internal sheet that says “our industry always / never needs statutory inspection.” Food producers also sit under sanitary registration, article 32 — another qualification, not a substitute for this booking’s catalogue inspection. Performance and use identification of dangerous-goods packagings, article 29, faces the packaging, not catalogue inspection of the goods themselves.

Do not write the buyer “all China exports need statutory inspection” or “we hold an exemption.” Write: whether this booking’s ten-digit HS code sits on the current compulsory catalogue is filed by the operating unit in Single Window; whether Customs inspects on site follows Customs. Empty words become a laydays fight after a reject.

Samples, gifts, phytosanitary, wood packaging: do not merge them with catalogue inspection

Article 6 writes that samples, gifts, temporary imports and exports and other non-trade articles are exempt from inspection, unless statutes or administrative regulations provide otherwise. Calling a commercial booking a “sample” to catch a vessel is not a sample in that article. Those samples are non-trade articles. Goods moving as a sale still follow the catalogue. Do not write sample on the packing list, a sale price on the contract, and then tell Customs these are gifts.

A phytosanitary certificate the buyer wants faces plant health of the goods themselves, see the phytosanitary page. An IPPC mark on wood packaging faces the pallet or the wooden case, see the ISPM 15 page. Catalogue statutory inspection faces whether the goods sit on the compulsory list. The three boxes can stand at once. One PDF with a new title will not fill three boxes.

A third-party survey, a Trade Assurance node and a Verified Supplier factory audit are not Customs statutory inspection. A survey can show the buyer the goods. The inspection result lives in the Customs system. Do not staple SGS photos into the inspection folder as this booking’s acknowledgement, and do not send a Customs application number to the buyer as “third-party inspection passed.”

If a food box also needs sanitary registration of the export food producer, ask whether the operating unit holds the current qualification. If it does not, do not let a catalogue-inspection filing stand in for registration. If a lamp box also needs a destination mark, that certification page will not fill this booking’s statutory-inspection box.

On express parcels, article 11 writes that the consignee or consignor shall appoint an inbound-outbound express operator to file the inspection formalities. Do not read a commercial express as “sample, exempt, no filing.” The express operator files in its own name and bears the same legal liability as the consignee or consignor. Ask the broker whether this booking is an express filing or a general goods declaration, then name who clicks apply.

Write the first mail to the broker as a full sentence: “Please confirm in writing this booking’s ten-digit HS code, whether the current supervision condition includes export commodity inspection, which Customs-registered firm is the applicant, and which attachments the local house wants. Do not say orally to fetch a clearance slip from the old CIQ office. Keep the phytosanitary certificate, the wood-packaging mark and the third-party survey in separate folders. Do not staple them into the statutory-inspection PDF.”

The plant’s goods description to sales uses the same Chinese and English as the invoice. Do not write “wooden dining table” on the inspection filing, “wooden items” on the invoice and “furniture parts” on the packing list. Sampling faces the declared description. Three mismatched descriptions that then fail a physical check are harder to unwind than “we have not filed yet.”

For listed goods that meet a state exemption condition, article 6 writes that the consignee, consignor or producer applies, GACC examines and approves, and the inspection body then exempts. GACC, after consulting the relevant departments, draws up the detailed exemption method. That is not a homemade “exemption certificate” sales prints. Without GACC approval, do not write “we are already exempt” on an inquiry.

For perishable food and frozen goods, article 30 also requires the carrier, the stuffing unit or their agent to apply, before loading, for cleanliness, hygiene, refrigeration and tightness of the conveyance. Uninspected or failed conveyances shall not be loaded. Fitness-to-carry faces the box and the hold, not catalogue inspection of the goods. Both boxes may apply. Do not let a fitness report stand in for commodity inspection.

This week’s reply to the buyer splits into usable sentences: whether this booking’s ten-digit HS code sits on the current catalogue is filed by a registered operating unit in Single Window; whether Customs inspects on site follows Customs; phytosanitary, wood packaging and a third-party survey are separate sentences. Do not write “CIQ arranged, certificate in three days, official fee included.” The completion-time column is none. The fee column is no. A lab bill is paid to the issuer.

Finance must not merge a lab invoice, an agent service fee and membership into one “inspection fee” total. The three payments do not go to the same payee. The lab is paid to the issuer. The agent is paid under the authorisation. Membership is wired to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED. The guide’s fee column for this Customs matter is no. Do not lock a “Customs official fee” into the unit price.

Fail, rename, old clearance slip: what sales and the plant stop

Article 24 writes that export goods subject to statutory inspection that have not been inspected, or that fail inspection, shall not be exported. Article 27 writes that goods which fail Customs inspection or a port check may be treated under Customs supervision and, after a fresh inspection is passed, may then be exported; if they cannot be treated, or still fail after treatment, they shall not be exported. Sales stops the promised sailing date. Stop: stuffed Friday, inspection already passed, an official inspection fee already in the unit price. Do not stop: asking the broker for this booking’s HS code and supervision condition, and asking the plant for a goods description and factory-inspection papers that match the declaration.

The plant stops a rename-and-refile. Writing catalogue goods as “parts / gifts” to catch a vessel hides a catalogue attribute. Goods description, the document checklist, the invoice and the packing list tell one set of facts. Pallets whose description is still unlocked do not go to the terminal. If samples were drawn, do not swap the sample and the stock and then declare “the same inspected lot.”

If there is an objection to the result, article 35 writes that the applicant may apply for a re-inspection within fifteen days of receiving the result; the body that accepts the re-inspection shall issue its conclusion within sixty days of receiving the application; where the technology is complex, an authorised extension may run no more than thirty further days. A re-inspection is not “change the description and file again.” Sales only says whether a re-inspection application has been filed. It does not say “already passed.”

An old clearance slip, a CIQ sticker or a WeChat screenshot that says “CIQ passed” cannot be retitled as this booking’s acknowledgement. What you need is this booking’s application number, Customs acceptance or certificate in Single Window or the inspection system. Phytosanitary certificates and wood-packaging marks sit in their own folders. They do not sit in the statutory-inspection folder as a stand-in.

In the contract and the PI, delete “seller handles all statutory inspection and guarantees clearance,” “the Hong Kong company is filed with CIQ,” “the official inspection fee is included in the unit price” and “store certification equals statutory inspection.” Write instead: if this booking’s HS code sits on the current compulsory catalogue, the operating unit or its agent files through Single Window; whether export is allowed follows the Customs inspection result; charges follow what Customs tells you this week and any lab bill, and the unit price does not lock an official fee.

When the buyer writes “send CIQ / inspection certificate,” ask first whether they want China Customs inspection of this booking’s catalogue goods, a destination phytosanitary certificate, or a third-party survey. Split the three sentences. Do not drop one PDF pack.

Confirm in writing today: the ten-digit HS code, whether the current supervision condition includes export inspection, and which registered firm is the applicant.
If the HS code is not locked, do not keep “doing inspection first.” Stop stuffing, see the classification page.
Hand over attachments against the local house’s list. Verified Supplier reports and membership receipts stay out of the inspection folder.
Until a fail has been re-inspected and passed, sales does not tick Trade Assurance shipped and does not write a destination pickup date.
Do not rename goods to hide a catalogue attribute. Do not redate an old clearance slip.

Corpable can sit with you on whether this booking’s HS code sits on the current catalogue, which firm is the applicant, and whether an old clearance slip can be used. We do not file with Customs, we do not become an inspection body, and we do not guarantee release. Membership still goes to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED.

Questions teams actually ask

The forwarder says this HS code needs statutory inspection. Do we go to the old CIQ office ourselves?

First match this booking’s ten-digit HS code to GACC’s current catalogue of goods subject to compulsory inspection, and to the supervision condition on the tariff. On the export side the letter B commonly marks export commodity inspection; whether it applies follows the current tariff and the local Customs house. After the institutional reform, inspection and quarantine sit with Customs. File through Single Window or the Customs government platform’s goods declaration. Do not follow a spoken path that says “queue at the old CIQ office first.”

The contract seller is a Hong Kong company. Who applies for statutory inspection?

The service guide writes the applicant as the consignee, the consignor or their agent. In practice that is usually the inland operating unit on the declaration, or a licensed broker holding an authorisation, transmitting the entry data and attachments in Single Window. A Hong Kong company has no mainland Customs registration code. A showcase name cannot stand as applicant. Name in writing which registered firm this booking will use.

How much is the “Customs official fee”? How many days until a certificate?

The government-platform guide for this matter says the service is online, the fee column is no, and both the promised and statutory completion-time columns are none. Do not rewrite a lab or agent quote as a Customs official fee, and do not write “three days, guaranteed pass” on an inquiry. Customs decides, against its rules, the firm’s credit category and product risk, whether to inspect on site or sample.

If inspection fails, can we change the description and export anyway?

No. The implementing regulation says export goods subject to statutory inspection that fail Customs inspection or a port check may be treated under Customs supervision and, after a fresh inspection is passed, may then be exported; if they cannot be treated, or still fail after treatment, they shall not be exported. Changing the description to hide a catalogue attribute damages the declaration and the later review.

The buyer wants a phytosanitary certificate or an ISPM 15 mark. Is that statutory inspection?

No. Statutory inspection faces the goods themselves when they sit on the catalogue. A phytosanitary certificate is what the destination asks for the goods. ISPM 15 is the mark on wood packaging. Do not merge the three boxes into one PDF.

Can Corpable file statutory inspection or guarantee release?

We do not file with Customs and we do not guarantee release. An advisor can sit with you on whether this booking’s HS code sits on the current catalogue and which registered firm is the applicant. Membership buys a showcase. Membership still goes to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED.