New Year’s Day holiday, import and export enterprises ushered in two countries of origin preferential policy “gift package”.According to Guangzhou Customs, on January 1, 2021, the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Mauritius (hereinafter referred to as the “China-Mauritius Free Trade Agreement”) officially took effect;At the same time, Mongolia acceded to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) and implemented mutual tariff reduction arrangements with relevant members on January 1, 2021.Import and export enterprises can enjoy import tariff preference by virtue of the certificate of origin of China-Mauritius Free Trade Agreement and the certificate of origin of Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement respectively.

The China-Mauritius FTA negotiation was officially launched in December 2017 and signed on October 17, 2019. It is the 17th FTA negotiated and signed by China and the first FTA between China and an African country.The signing of the agreement provides a stronger institutional guarantee for the deepening of bilateral economic and trade relations and adds new connotations to the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership between China and Africa.

According to the China-Mauritius Free Trade Agreement, 96.3% and 94.2% of the tariff items of China and Mauritius will finally achieve zero tariff, respectively. The tariff of the remaining tariff items of Mauritius will also be significantly reduced, and the maximum tariff of most products will no longer exceed 15% or even lower.The main products that China exports to Mauritius, such as steel products, textiles and other light industrial products, will benefit from this, and the special sugar produced in Mauritius will also gradually enter the Chinese market.

The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement is the first regional preferential trade arrangement that China has joined.On October 23, 2020, Mongolia completed the accession process of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, and decided to cut tariffs on 366 import products starting from January 1, 2021, mainly involving aquatic products, vegetables and fruits, animal and plant oils, minerals, chemicals, wood, cotton yarn, etc., with an average reduction rate of 24.2%.Mongolia’s accession will further deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation and enhance the level of free and convenient trade between the two countries.

According to statistics, from January to November in 2020, Guangzhou Customs issued 103 general certificates of origin to Mauritius, with a value of 15.699,300 US dollars. The main goods under visa are iron and steel products, plastic products, copper products, machinery and equipment, furniture and so on.In the same period, 62 general certificates of origin with a value of US $785,000 were issued to Mongolia, mainly for electrical equipment, base metal products, toys, ceramic products and plastic products.With the implementation of the China-Mauritius FTA and Mongolia’s accession to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, China’s trade with Mauritius and Mongolia is expected to increase further.

Guangzhou customs reminds, import and export enterprises to timely use of the policy dividend, actively apply for the corresponding preferential certificate of origin.At the same time should pay attention to in the fta MAO “special” in the enterprise, approved the exporter can according to the relevant provisions for the production and export to Mauritius Chinese origin of goods, on the invoice or other business documents to issue a statement of origin, without certificate of origin for applying the visa agencies, relevant goods import declaration by the statement of origin in Mauritius can apply for to enjoy tax agreement.