China Australia Free Trade Agreement start date – 20 December, 2015

The Free Trade Agreement between Australia and China (ChAFTA) will commence on 20 December, 2015 with the majority of products receiving duty free status from this date as long as a valid Certificate of Origin (CoO) is available.  Importers will need to secure appropriate CoO from their suppliers to take advantage of ChAFTA reduced duty rates from this commencement date.

Importers should be aware not all goods will receive duty free status from the commencement date and for these still dutiable goods, phasing rates of duty will be applied, for these goods a further round of cuts will occur on 1 January 2016, these goods subject to phasing rates of duty will eventually become duty free.  The goods still subject to phasing rates of duty include but are not limited to some paper products, textiles, clothing, footwear, some machinery and various automotive products.  These phasing rates of duty being the reason for the commencement date of 20 December, 2015, so as on 01 January, 2016 a second duty reduction will occur.

Importers of goods that wish to claim the benefit of the ChAFTA, will need to have their suppliers acquire a certificate of origin issued by an authorised body being either one of the following organisations:

AQSIQ (General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine) where the actual certificates will be issued by provincial Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureaus, which are administered by AQSIQ;

And the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Further, there will be goods already on the water for which no certificate of origin is held. If those goods arrive on or after 20 December the goods can be entered and duty paid, with the importer having 6 months to retrospectively obtain a certificate of origin. Once the certificate is held, a refund can be applied for.

Please see below the link for the CHAFTA, which will connect you to the DFAT website detailing all requirements.

http://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/chafta/official-documents/Pages/official-documents.aspx