Frontier Health and Quarantine by China Customs

Contributed by Ms. Zhao Jing, Hylands Law Firm. For more posts about China Customs Affairs, please click here.

The health and quarantine inspection carried out by China Customs at the border aims to prevent infectious diseases from spreading into or out of China.

I. Scope of customs work

The quarantine management of China Customs covers ports, airports, and land borders involving international transportation.

II. Subjects of customs health quarantine

1. Entry-exit of people

All inbound persons shall be subject to quarantine inspection at the first border port of arrival, and all outbound persons shall be subject to quarantine inspection at the last border port of departure.

Quarantine officers shall monitor the temperature and conduct medical inspections for all inbound persons. Health declarations are also accepted. No person of any nationality or identity is exempt from inspection.

Based on diplomatic etiquette or the need for foreign exchanges, customs may provide courteous reception to special personnel, such as simplifying procedures for inspection and adopting minimal/no inspection of their belongings.

Customs shall apply different measures to persons found to have infectious diseases or identified as suspected cases, depending on the nature of the diseases.

2. Transportation

Customs shall carry out quarantine inspections on ships, aircraft, vehicles, and trains entering or leaving the country.

The means of transport shall be registered with customs in advance and declared to customs prior to arrival or departure. Customs shall conduct inspection and quarantine measures in accordance with the declaration and the relevant risk assessment, .

3. Goods

Customs shall implement dynamic risk management for imports and exports.

For goods identified by customs inspection as posing health quarantine risks, the goods shall be subject to disinsection, disinfection, and other treatments. Customs shall allow the entry or exit of goods that meet the quarantine requirements. Goods that fail to meet the standards or do not achieve the desired results after health measures shall be returned or destroyed. In the case of prohibited imported waste materials, customs shall directly require their return.

4. Special items

Customs applies a graded management to special items such as microorganisms, human tissues, biological products, blood, and its products. Therefore, such items require prior approval from China Customs before import or export.

In addition, Customs shall conduct on-site inspections for each batch of goods, and the goods shall be subject to follow-up supervision by Customs even after import or export.

5. Waste goods

Customs shall treat waste goods by disinfection, deratization, disinsection, or direct destruction depending on the degree of contamination . Goods that remain unqualified after treatment shall be returned.

6. International mail

Customs shall apply sanitary treatments such as disinfection and disinsection to mails that may pose risks. Mails that remain unqualified after treatment shall be returned or destroyed by Customs.