Why did the new overseas shopping policy press the "pause button"?
Source：本站Author：admin Addtime：2017/6/4 Click：0
During the transition period, the 10 pilot cities of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Tianjin, Fuzhou and Pingtan will continue to be supervised in accordance with the regulatory requirements before the implementation of the new tax policy. After checking the customs clearance form, the first-time import license, registration or filing requirements for cosmetics, infant formula milk powder, medical devices, and special foods (including health foods, formula foods for special medical purposes, etc.) in the remarks of the "Positive List" are temporarily not implemented.
Recently, the General Administration of Customs officially issued the "Notice on Matters Concerning the Implementation of New Supervisory Requirements for Cross-Border E-Commerce Retail Imports". It was previously rumored that the regulatory authorities will establish a "one-stop supervision system" for the new cross-border e-commerce policy that will be implemented on April 8. The "year buffer period" has been officially settled.
policy
Adjustments to the tax system will be retained and other new policies will be suspended for one year.
The notice clarifies that during the transition period, the 10 pilot cities of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Tianjin, Fuzhou and Pingtan will continue to be supervised in accordance with the regulatory requirements before the implementation of the new tax policy. This means that in addition to changes in the import tax system, other provisions that have been harmful to e-commerce in the previous cross-border e-commerce new policy have been suspended, showing that the regulatory authorities have responded to the sharp decline in cross-border e-commerce business to a certain extent. Make appropriate concessions. It is reported that the transition period of this policy will be until May 11, 2017.
Because it is too lethal, the new cross-border e-commerce policy that was implemented with high profile on April 8 this year will be partially postponed. At the beginning of this week, multiple sources confirmed that the General Administration of Customs, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and other departments had reached an agreement on this issue and decided to temporarily set up a "one-year transition period" for part of the new policy. A person familiar with the matter said that in fact, the General Administration of Customs is only the executive department in the new cross-border e-commerce policy. The postponement of the implementation of the new policy should be the decision of the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation or even higher departments, and only after all parties reach a consensus. Published by the General Administration of Customs.
investigation
Overseas shopping companies are in a "desperate situation with customs clearance orders"
Regarding the new policy for overseas shopping, the outside world was most concerned about tax issues before. That is to say, overseas shopping used to pay taxes according to the model of personal postal tax and exemption, but now it has become a new tax rate. Although this has added a certain tax cost to overseas shopping companies, in fact, the most fatal blow to overseas shopping companies in the new policy provisions is the customs clearance order system. This measure is called the "customs clearance order desperate situation" by many e-commerce companies.
According to the new policy regulations, goods shipped by cross-border e-commerce after April 8 must provide customs clearance forms in accordance with general trade requirements. The so-called customs clearance form refers to the "Customs Clearance Form for Entry Goods" issued by the inspection and quarantine agency. The required materials include certificate of origin, inspection and quarantine certificate, etc. Cosmetics, health products and other commodities must also be registered with the Food and Drug Administration. After cross-border e-commerce has completed the inspection and obtained the customs clearance form issued by the inspection and quarantine department, it can declare to the customs. This also means that the supervision of cross-border e-commerce bonded imported goods by regulatory authorities is no different from that of general trade. This customs clearance form is almost impossible for e-commerce companies that do not have brand channels to obtain goods from wholesalers.
In response to the rebound in e-commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine explained in a statement issued on May 15 that inspection and quarantine should issue customs clearance forms in accordance with the cargo attributes of cross-border e-commerce commodities. At the same time, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine stated that "in fact, only 36% of the codes in the list are in the 'Legal Inspection Catalog'", which means that most coded products will not be affected.
In fact, an e-commerce company told a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily that although only 36% of the codes are in the "Legal Inspection Catalog", in fact, most of the currently hot-selling products in cross-border e-commerce are in the "Legal Inspection Catalog". An e-commerce company said, "If calculated based on the value of the goods, it is estimated that more than 90% of the products require customs clearance forms."
Follow up
Import orders in bonded areas dropped by more than 60%
The customs clearance issue not only prevents e-commerce companies from importing a large number of goods, but also directly affects the import orders of many cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones and bonded zones. There have been media reports before that because cross-border e-commerce platforms are unable to provide the qualifications and documentary proof required for "customs clearance orders" and a large number of goods cannot be imported, the import orders of major cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones have dropped sharply. Between April 8 and April 15, the import orders in Zhengzhou, Shenzhen, Ningbo, Hangzhou and other cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones dropped by 70%, 61%, 62% and 65% respectively compared with before the New Deal.
"It is certain that the industry's transaction volume has declined, mainly in cross-border e-commerce that adopts the bonded stocking model." A person familiar with the matter revealed that after the implementation of the new policy, Jumei Youpin's overall out-of-zone order volume and order volume have declined. They are all around 60%; the number of out-of-zone orders from Miya Baby, NetEase Kaola and other companies in the zone also declined to varying degrees. NetEase Kaola’s out-of-zone order volume dropped by 47% within four days after the new policy was implemented on April 8. These have directly caused a significant decline in the import orders of various cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones. It is reported that the import orders in the Zhengzhou Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone have dropped by 70% compared with before the New Deal.
The so-called cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone is a policy exploration that is more conducive to cross-border e-commerce based on the concept of traditional bonded zones in response to the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce. In 2013, my country designated Hangzhou as the first batch of cross-border e-commerce trade pilot zones. In January this year, it was decided to promote the relevant policy system and management system of China (Hangzhou) Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone to a wider range. The newly established Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Zhengzhou and other cities have piloted cross-border e-commerce comprehensive experimental zones.
These cross-border e-commerce trade pilot areas have bonded, display, transaction and other functions. They can not only realize the functions of traditional bonded areas, but also consumers can directly go to the industrial park to experience, place orders and pick up goods on site, which is equivalent to visiting traditional bonded areas. On the basis of further improving transaction efficiency.
Insider
Top management decided around May 9 to “defer the period”
Starting from April 8, my country will levy tariffs, import-link value-added tax, and consumption tax on cross-border e-commerce retail imported goods based on goods. The new tax system, which is known as "bringing the good days of e-commerce to an end," has officially arrived. Yesterday, a cross-border e-commerce person told reporters that in fact, they had vaguely received news of the suspension of the New Deal as early as the first ten days of this month. "It was around May 8th and 9th that we first got the news!" According to him, According to the introduction, in the month between the implementation of the New Deal on April 8 and the receipt of this information on May 8, departments including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and other departments held surveys involving cross-border e-commerce companies in many places. During the meeting, “on the one hand, we listen to data, and on the other hand, we listen to suggestions. We mainly listen to what the company has to say.” According to him, in the last two weeks of the first month of the implementation of the New Deal, high-level meetings of these ministries began to be held intensively, and more of them were discussing various solutions, including whether it was necessary to postpone the implementation of the New Deal. "On May 8th and 9th, all parties basically reached an agreement to establish a one-year suspension period. At present, it seems that the suspension period of the New Deal ends on May 10, 2017, so the 'suspension' does indeed start from that time. The calculation started. However, the scope of the suspension was already clear at that time. The tax system adjustment was retained, and the implementation of other matters was extended for one year until a new and reasonable supervision method was formed."
Some merchants who do import trade through direct mail have vaguely felt that the policy seems to have been adjusted not long ago. Some merchants chose to send potentially affected products to bonded warehouses in Hong Kong before the new policy, and then sent them to customers via direct mail. At first, the speed of direct mail customs clearance was very slow and almost stagnated; however, at the end of April, the speed of direct mail customs clearance accelerated significantly, and now it has almost returned to the level before the New Deal.
background
Infant milk powder released for the first time
According to the reporter's understanding, this is actually not the first adjustment to this new policy, but it was previously done in a more euphemistic way, including a "positive list" that was quickly adjusted.
The day before the new policy was implemented on April 8, the Ministry of Finance announced the "List of Cross-border E-Commerce Retail Imported Goods." However, once this list was announced, it caused an uproar in the e-commerce industry because fresh food products with large cross-border volumes had previously been Food and liquid milk are not included in the list. Moreover, infant formula milk powder, one of the most concerned categories in overseas purchases, needs to be registered in accordance with the provisions of the Food Safety Law.
However, just as many e-commerce companies were in despair, the second "positive list" was unexpectedly released on April 15. “Situations like this that significantly relaxed policies within a week have rarely occurred before, which shows that the pressure on companies caused by the policy is indeed too great!” An e-commerce source said that the second list “released the policy” to a large extent. "Water", although there are only 151 8-digit tax code products shortlisted, the much-anticipated infant formula milk powder has been "resurrected", and it is stipulated that until 2018, imported infant milk powder does not need to obtain the formula registration certificate of related products. This is equivalent to a two-year grace period. At the same time, this list also has new explanations for imported health foods, cosmetics, etc.
