Policy essence and declaration boundaries of import equipment duty-free schemes

According to the 2025 Management Measures for Confirmation of Nationally Encouraged Domestic and Foreign-funded Projects, enterprises importing specific equipment can enjoy tariff and import VAT exemptions. Policy coverage includes:

• Production equipment listed in the National Major Technical Equipment Catalog
• R&D equipment for technology innovation enterprises
• Intelligent manufacturing equipment aligned with industrial upgrading direction

Declaration entities must simultaneously meetProject complianceandEquipment specificityDual standards. Project compliance requires enterprises to hold provincial-level or above NDRC project confirmation certificates, while equipment specificity demands complete equipment usage descriptions and supervision plans.

Four-dimensional value system of professional agency services

Compared with self-declaration by enterprises, professionalforeign tradeagencies demonstrate significant advantages in duty-free business:

• Policy interpretation accuracy: Dynamically tracking Customs policy updates to avoid declaration failures caused by clause misinterpretation
• Document preparation completeness: Establishing standardized documentation systems to ensure technical parameters, usage descriptions and other key files meet audit requirements
• Customs clearance coordination efficiency: By leveraging the pre-classification system to complete commodity code confirmation in advance, port clearance time is reduced by over 30%
• Post-clearance supervision safeguards: Establishing an equipment usage ledger system to prevent compliance risks during customs audits

Three-phase control model for full-process operations

• Pre - preparation Stage
  • Project compliance verification (3-5 working days)
  • Pre-review of equipment technical parameters (including HS code confirmation)
• Implementation stage of declaration
  • Application for duty-free confirmation letter (statutory timeframe: 20 working days)
  • Import license processing (involving3Ccertified equipment requires special handling)
• Follow-up management phase
  • Regular reporting of equipment usage status (quarterly/annual)
  • Customs follow-up inspection response plan

Analysis of common corporate decision-making misconceptions

In service practice, we have identified three typical cognitive biases among enterprises:

• Misunderstanding of policy timeliness: The 2025 catalog adds 35 intelligent manufacturing equipment items, yet some enterprises still use outdated catalogs
• Miscalculation of declaration costs: Self-declaration often results in demurrage fees and amendment charges exceeding agency service fees
• Inadequate risk assessment: Cases involving undeclared equipment purpose changes leading to back taxes and administrative penalties account for 23%

Triple verification criteria for agency service selection

Enterprises are advised to evaluate agency professional capabilities from these dimensions:

• Policy update response speed: Whether a customs regulation tracking mechanism is established
• Case database scale: Number of successful cases handling similar projects
• Customs system maturity: Whether electronic port data direct connection capability exists