ECFA is an agreement signed between the Mainland and Taiwan on 29 June 2010 whereby more than 800 tariff items will enjoy tariff reduction. The import tariff of these goods will be reduced to zero in phases within two years after the implementation of ECFA on 1 January 2011.
The direct consignment clause in Article 16 of Annex II “Country of Origin Regulation” of ECFA basically requires consignments to be shipped directly between the Mainland and Taiwan. However, consignments routed through a third party can also be regarded as direct consignment provided that certain conditions are met. Besides, ECFA consignments routing through a third party have to be under the control of the third party Customs. The consignments may stay in the third party for not more than 60 days.
Details are available at the following website:
http://tga.mofcom.gov.cn/ (Opens a new window)
http://www.ecfa.org.tw (Opens a new window)