【Commodity Inspection】An article to understand the pre-shipment inspection of the government agreement

Preshipment inspection (PSI) is an inspection method often used in international commodity trade.Government agreement pre-shipment inspection refers to the agreement signed between governments, by the government of the member party through government authorization or government contracts, the designated inspection agency to the quantity, quality, price of imported products, including exchange rate and financing conditions, as well as the quality of goods. Customs classification, etc., pre-shipment inspection activities carried out in the territory of the exporting party.

1 Pre-shipment inspection as agreed by the Chinese government

The Chinese government signed an agreement with the relevant countries, agreeing that before the Chinese products are exported to the corresponding countries, the Chinese customs will carry out pre-shipment inspection and issue an official inspection and quarantine certificate, which is used as a valid certificate for the importing country to go through the import procedures.The purpose is to ensure that the quality of export products, safety items, health items, and environmental protection items meet the requirements, and the authenticity of quantity/weight, price, etc., to prevent fraudulent acts and the export of counterfeit and shoddy products, so as to maintain the quality and reputation of my country's export products.

2 Pre-shipment inspection as agreed by the Chinese government

scope of implementation

At present, the pre-shipment inspection of the government agreement involves four countries, namely Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Iran, and Yemen.

Exports to Sierra Leone: Trade goods valued over US$2,000 per batch.

Export to Ethiopia: Trade goods with a value of more than 2,000 US dollars per batch.

Exported to Iran: industrial products listed in chapters 25-29 and 31-97 of the HS code, the customs supervision condition is B, and the inspection and quarantine category is N.

Export to Yemen: Industrial products in HS Code Chapters 25-29, 31-97.

Document basis

The former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China 'Announcement on Pre-shipment Inspection of Commodities Exported to the Republic of Sierra Leone of the People's Republic of China' (2004 No. 7)

The former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China 'Announcement on Pre-shipment Inspection of Products Exported to Ethiopia' (2006 No. 102)

The former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China 'Announcement on Pre-shipment Inspection of Industrial Products Exported to Iran' (2011 No. 161)

The former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China 'Announcement on Pre-shipment Inspection of Industrial Products Exported to Yemen' (2014 No. 11)

3 The process of customs pre-shipment inspection

Pre-shipment inspection mainly includes the following:

1. Enterprise declaration

Enterprises declare through the international trade 'Single Window' system, and check 'Other certificates' in the required documents column (remarks 'Pre-shipment inspection certificate').

2. Implement inspection

Batch inspection is required for goods within the scope of pre-shipment inspection as agreed by the government.

Check whether the product model/specification and quantity of the whole batch of goods are consistent with the declared data;

Check whether the product packaging is in good condition;

Check whether the appearance of the product is in good condition and meet the standard requirements; check whether the product nameplate identification and production batch number are consistent with the declaration data;

Samples are drawn for routine on-site project inspection, and if necessary, samples are sent to the laboratory for testing.

Test based on

Sierra Leone: Choose to use international standards, Chinese national standards or Chinese entry-exit inspection and quarantine industry standards.

Ethiopia: Choose to use international standards, Chinese national standards or Chinese entry-exit inspection and quarantine industry standards in turn; if the Chinese standard is specified in the trade contract or letter of credit, it can be inspected according to the Chinese national standard.

Iran: The Iranian national standard, the Chinese national standard, and the international standard are adopted in sequence.

Yemen: Adopt Yemeni technical regulations and mandatory standards, Chinese national standards or international standards in sequence.

On-site inspection by customs officers

3. Supervise the installation

The on-site supervision of the customs on the process of loading the goods into the container mainly includes the following contents: checking the name, quantity, packaging, mark, specification and model, production batch number, etc. of the goods, supervising the loading of the goods into the container, imposing a seal on the container, and taking pictures On-site photos or video data that can reflect the characteristics of the goods and the supervision process of loading.

4. Nuclear price

For goods exported to Sierra Leone or Ethiopia, customs will also verify the price of the goods to prevent price gouging.

5. Certificate

The inspection department shall issue a pre-shipment inspection certificate within 5 working days after the inspection is completed by an authorized inspector who has been registered.The certificate shall be a Chinese and English version containing cargo information, inspection basis, inspection results, container number and seal number, etc.

Sample of pre-shipment inspection certificate for export to Sierra Leone

Sample of Pre-shipment Inspection Certificate for Export to Iran

Sample of pre-shipment inspection certificate for export to Yemen