China to Australia Customs clearance, taxes, and fees in Australia

Importation consists of several steps and stages that you should pass. It doesn’t consist of only shipping or sourcing the product, it is important to consider the government regulations, taxes, and other fees that you owe. This article will talk about steps that you will take while importing from China to Australia.

Pre-importation

In Australia, you don’t have to own an import license to import from China to Australia. However, there are some regulations regarding particular product types, you are required to have permits or certifications. Here is the shortlist of prohibited products that need to have permits or certifications.

∙       Anabolic and androgenic substances

∙       ANZAC

∙       Asbestos 

∙       Animal and plant species

∙       Unmarked plastic explosive

Here you can find the full list of prohibited or restricted products to import in Australia.

Declaration fees.

While importing you will need to declare products that are going to be transferred from China to Australia. There are some fees that you will pay depending on the total value of import and declaration type. Before 2016, importers used to pay different fees depending on the type of shipment. But beginning from January 1, 2016 businessmen pay the same amount regardless of transportation type.

For example, if you have warehoused electronics, you pay $23.

Here you can find the full list

Valuation

Valuation is an important part of importation. There are several situations when you will need the documents that prove the real value of importing goods. For example, you will need them while paying customs duties and fees. Besides that, the government maintains statistics of imported and exported products, and valuation will be used in that, too.

The most common way of valuation is to use “transaction value”. It is the actual amount that the importer has paid or going to pay for goods. But the supplier and importer shouldn’t be related to each other and any factor shouldn’t affect the official pricing of the good. Only in that case the “transaction value” can be used as the value of goods.

If you can’t use the “transaction value”, then there are other options. For example,

1.    Price of identical goods can be used

2.    Price of similar goods that are imported to Australia also can be used

3.    Computed Value also can be used, it is based on general expenses, price of the good, and other profits related to imported products.

4.    If any of the mentioned methods can be used, then Customs and Border Protection will determine the price. They will consider all the mentioned methods above.

Don’t forget that the insurance of freight shouldn’t be included, but other insurances and expenses should be. For example, if your consignment had insurance for the transportation from the factory to the port and another one for shipping from China to Australia, then you shouldn’t include shipping insurance expenses.

Packing expenses.

The valuation should include packing expenses. But the cost of containers and pallets shouldn’t be taken into consideration.

For more detailed information, contact the Customs Information and Support Center on 1300 363 262, or email information@customs.gov.au. 

• Valuation of Free-of-charge goods

All the imported goods must pass the Customs value, no matter the type.

Here you can read more about the Valuation of Free-of-charge goods in Australia.

Valuation of production assist costs

In some cases, the importer may offer its own services or materials for the production of goods. This will affect the final cost of the importing commodity.

For example, while producing and labeling the importer may help to transfer own order from one factory to another, and cover the expenses. Of course, in this situation, the final valuation should include the transferring expenses, too.

Here you can read more about the Valuation of production assist costs.

Here you can find guidelines and general advice about Valuation.

 A Valuation Advice provides a ruling on particular situations of importation. Valuation Advice inquiries can be sent to valuation@abf.gov.au and here you can download the application form.

Origin and Customs tariffs

It is important to determine the origins. There are free trade agreements with some countries.

In our case, there is an agreement between China and Australia, called ChAFTA. It was signed on 17 June 2015 in Canberra.

Thanks to the Chinese Australian free trade agreement, most products are not subject to duties. After entering the agreement most of the barriers in trade between China and Australia have been removed.

For example, if you are importing from China to Australia, you won’t pay import duties which were 5% before the agreement.

Here is the link to see check the customs tariffs.

Contacts

Email: CHAFTA@abf.gov.au 
Telephone number: 1300 805 876

Australian business number

If you own an Australian Business Number, you need to supply it to the Australian border force. It will be used for GST and tax purposes. If you need advice, you can contact your local tax office. Here is the link to the official web page.

Trade descriptions

Particular goods need to be labeled and meet regulations before importation.

The Commerce Act 1905 and the Commerce Regulation 2016 clarifies what type of goods should be labeled.

There are some main requirements regarding labels. For example,

• They should be in English and written with legible characters.
• It should include country of origin
• Description of the good

Conclusion.

China can be the best country to import from. Because of the ChAFTA and developed ways of transferring expenses of importation are quite reduced.