Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department - Principle of Application

The following are the respective requirements of the Chinese Mainland and relevant signatory countries/regions on transhipment cargoes via Hong Kong :

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to the Chinese Mainland

If consignees of imported goods or agents (Importers) can provide to the Mainland Customs any of the following documents when applying for a convention tariff rate or preferential tariff rate, there is no need to provide the "Certificate of Non-manipulation":
1. A single through bill of lading issued by the carrier stating that the place of departure is within the boundary of the exporting country/ region of the goods and the place of destination is within the boundary of the Chinese Mainland. In particular, for transhipment cargo by sea originating from an inland country/region, the departure point can be the port of loading of the cargo.
2. For goods transported in containers throughout the entire journey, documents which can prove that the container number and seal number remain unchanged during the whole transportation journey.
If the above two requirements could not be fulfilled, importers are required to observe the following requirements to provide "Certificate of Non-manipulation":
1. For both containerized and bulk cargo, which are required to have inspection and quarantine by the China Inspection Co. Ltd.(CIC Ltd.) during their stay in Hong Kong, importer is required to submit a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by the CIC Ltd.
2. For containerized cargo which is unsealed not owing to the inspection and quarantine conducted by the CIC Ltd. and bulk cargo requiring no inspection and quarantine during their transhipment stay in Hong Kong, importer is required to submit a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED.
When submission of "Certificate of Non-manipulation" to the Mainland Customs is required, importers are required to specify "Certificate of Non-manipulation" and the certificate number in the "Marks and Remarks" column of the declaration form, without being required to electronically upload the "Certificate of Non-manipulation".

[Remarks: For goods requiring inspection and quarantine, please contact CIC Ltd. for details.]

For related announcement by the Mainland Customs, Please refer to the following website
http://gdfs.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/zfxxgk/zfxxgkml34/6110883/index.html

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to Taiwan

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to Korea

For bulk cargo, if a single through bill of lading cannot be provided and storage is required during their transhipment stay in Hong Kong (except those cargo stored at recognized locations¹for less than seven days), a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED is required.
For containerized cargo, which is unsealed leading to the change of container number or seal number during their transhipment stay in Hong Kong, and bulk cargo which require cargo consolidation / vanning / devanning / repacking in Hong Kong, a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED is required.

¹ Kwai Tsing 1-9 Container Terminals, Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal, Super Terminal One, The Hong Kong International Airport Express Centre, Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal, Asia Airfreight Terminal, DHL Central Asia Hub

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to Singapore, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Myanmar and Peru²

If a single through bill of lading cannot be provided for containerized cargo and bulk cargo, a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED is required.
For containerized cargo, which is unsealed leading to the change of container number or seal number during their transhipment stay in Hong Kong, and bulk cargo which require cargo consolidation / vanning / devanning / repacking in Hong Kong, a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED is required.

² For transhipment cargo to Peru, operations allowed in Hong Kong are unloading, reloading, repacking or any operation required to keep them in good condition, in accordance with the article of direct transport of the China-Peru Free Trade Agreement.

Transhipment Cargo via Hong Kong to Australia

For transhipment cargo via Hong Kong to Australia, traders are not necessary to apply for a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" issued by C&ED.
When transhipment cargo via Hong Kong arrives Australia, traders can directly apply for preferential tariff from the Australian Customs with supporting document.

For related information provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australian, please refer to the following website:

https://dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/in-force/chafta/doing-business-with-china/Pages/chafta-frequently-asked-questions.aspx

Summary Table

ECFA, The China-Korea Free Trade Agreement, The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (To Korea) and RCEP (To Korea).

			To the Chinese Mainland^4,5	To Taiwan	To Korea
			To the Chinese Mainland^4,5	To Taiwan	To Korea
Able to provide single through bill of lading¹	I	Containerized Cargo & Bulk Cargo	X Not Required	✓ Required	X Not Required
Not able to provide single through bill of lading	II	Containerized Cargo²	X Not Required	✓ Required	X Not Required
	III	Bulk Cargo³	✓ Required		Without storage	X Not Required
					With temporary storage at recognized locations in HK⁶	X Not Required
					With storage in HK	✓ Required
Cargo consolidation / vanning / devanning / repacking in HK	IV	Containerized Cargo & Bulk Cargo	✓ Required + Customs supervision	✓ Required + Customs supervision	✓ Required + Customs supervision

Other FTAs and Preferential Trade Agreement

			To the Chinese Mainland^4,5	To other places*	To Australia⁸
			To the Chinese Mainland^4,5	To other places*	To Australia⁸
Able to provide single through bill of lading¹	I	Containerized Cargo & Bulk Cargo	X Not Required	X Not Required	X Not Required
Not able to provide single through bill of lading	II	Containerized Cargo²	X Not Required	✓ Required	X Not Required
Not able to provide single through bill of lading	III	Bulk Cargo³	✓ Required	✓ Required	X Not Required
Cargo consolidation / vanning / devanning / repacking in HK⁷	IV	Containerized Cargo & Bulk Cargo	✓ Required + Customs supervision	✓ Required + Customs supervision	X Not Required

Remarks
* Other places include Singapore, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Myanmar and Peru.

The Single Through Bill of Lading means a bill of lading (including Air Waybill) issued with detailed information of the shipment including transportation details, port/place of departure and destination, description and quantity of the cargo, etc. showing on a single set of bills of lading.
Able to provide documents which can prove that the container number and seal number of the container remain unchanged during its whole transportation journey.
Able to provide Through Bills of Lading which can prove that the description of goods, number of packages and weight remain unchanged during its whole transportation journey.
(If applicable) Upon submission of Import Declaration to the Mainland Customs, the importers have to specify "Certificate of Non-manipulation" and the certificate number in the "Marks and Remarks" column of the declaration form without being required to electronically upload the "Certificate of Non-manipulation".
For all containerized and bulk cargo, which are required to have inspection and quarantine by the CIC Ltd. during their stay in Hong Kong, trader is required to apply the "Certificate of Non-manipulation" from the CIC Ltd. direct.
Storage at recognized locations (Kwai Tsing 1-9 Container Terminals, Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal, SuperTerminal One, The Hong Kong International Airport Express Centre, Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal, Asia Airfreight Terminal, DHL Central Asia Hub) for not more than seven days.
For transhipment cargo to Peru, operations allowed in Hong Kong are unloading, reloading, repacking or any operation required to keep them in good condition, in accordance with the article of direct transport of the China-Peru Free Trade Agreement.
Australian Border Force accepts traders to apply for preferential tariff without applying Certificate of Non-manipulation from the C&ED.
Trader has the responsibility to provide the Certificate of Non-manipulation or supporting documents to the importing country/ region to prove their eligibility for preferential tariff.
In the course of Customs clearance, transhipment cargo, which originally needs not to apply for "Certificate of Non-manipulation", may be selected by C&ED for examination. Upon receiving application by traders after examination, C&ED may issue a "Certificate of Non-manipulation" after vetting the application.