A shipment from Taiwan was held up by Chinese customs for around 18 days because its declaration documents did not list it as originating from “Taiwan, China,” according to a Taiwanese official.
Taiwan’s Customs Administration was contacted by an exporter for assistance on Aug. 5 after being told by Chinese customs officials to indicate on the declaration documents that a shipment had originated from “Taiwan, China.”
Following communication between officials in both countries, the shipment was confirmed as having cleared Chinese customs on Aug. 23, the official said.
The official did not provide details as to whether any changes were made to the country of origin on the declaration documents to secure passage of the shipment through customs.
Since early August, six exporters have contacted Taiwan’s Customs Administration for assistance in securing the release of shipments blocked from entering China over similar country-of-origin issues.
China has reportedly begun to strictly enforce a rule set in 2015 that goods imported from Taiwan be listed as being from “Taiwan, China” or “Chinese Taipei” on declaration documents and packaging labels as part of a series of punitive actions taken in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan from Aug. 2-3.
A Taiwan food ingredients producer previously told CNA that the rule had not been strictly enforced in the past as labels that were not in compliance would still clear Chinese customs as long as the offending parts were covered up or blanked out.
A shift to stricter enforcement of the Chinese rule could be problematic for Taiwanese businesses, because Taiwan’s regulations on customs declaration prohibit the listing of goods as originating in “Taiwan, China,” a petrochemical industry operator told CNA in August.
Taiwan’s authorities have said they would monitor the situation and help business operators resolve the issue.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel