Hainan's legislation prohibits tax-exempt imported goods from being sold out of the island
□ Our reporter Zhai Xiaogong
Hainan Free Trade Port is the only one in China that promotes the construction of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics. It is extremely important to properly handle the relationship between openness and control. Among them, the prevention and control of smuggling is even more important for "controllable".
The "Interim Regulations on Anti-Smuggling in Hainan Province" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") reviewed and approved by the Seventeenth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress of Hainan Province will come into effect on April 1. As the first anti-smuggling law in Hainan, Zhu Huayou, a researcher at the Free Trade Port Research Institute with Chinese Characteristics, believes that this is the “infrastructure” of the island ’s implementation of the free trade port policy in stages and steps.
"Regulations" in accordance with the "both open and manageable" requirements, follow the "prevention-oriented, combined with prevention and comprehensive management" principle, to build a new "anti-smuggling management and control" anti-smuggling pattern, the Hainan anti-smuggling into the standardization 1. Track the rule of law, build an anti-smuggling comprehensive governance system that meets the needs of free trade ports, and provide good legal guarantee for the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port.
Anti-smuggling on the track of rule of law
On March 18, 2019, the Working Conference on Combating Comprehensive Smuggling in Hainan Province was held, requesting that the implementation of the policy of serving the Free Trade Port in the Hainan Free Trade Zone be effective and accurate in combating smuggling. Accelerating the construction of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics is a major national strategy that General Secretary Xi Jinping personally planned, personally deployed, and personally promoted. The Guiding Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Supporting Hainan ’s Comprehensive Deepening of Reform and Opening-up clearly confers on Hainan the task of “effectively and precisely combating smuggling activities”.
At present, the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port has been comprehensively promoted, and it is imminent to establish a comprehensive anti-smuggling comprehensive governance system with clear powers and responsibilities, orderly coordination, clear standards, and strong protection. The anti-smuggling work must play a leading role in the rule of law. This is the proper meaning of advancing the strategy of governing the country according to law in the new era. The "Regulations" are formulated in response to the requirements of this era.
Tong Weihua, deputy dean, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Law School of Hainan University, pointed out that anti-smuggling work is related to national security, social stability, and people ’s well-being, and it is about Hainan ’s creation of an international first-class business environment of rule of law, internationalization, and convenience. Hainan has comprehensively deepened reform and opening up, and established basic and preparatory work in building a free trade port with Chinese characteristics.
According to the needs of the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, the "Regulations" build a new "anti-smuggling and control" anti-smuggling pattern, demonstrating Hainan's confidence in doing a good job in risk prevention and establishing a new benchmark for comprehensively deepening reform and opening up. With the continuous deepening of the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, Hainan will revise and perfect the "Regulations" in accordance with the needs of its work to ensure that anti-smuggling work is always on the track of rule of law and standardization.
Create a comprehensive anti-smuggling responsibility system
As early as 2014, in order to solve the problem of the lack of comprehensive anti-smuggling management system in Hainan and standardize the province's comprehensive anti-smuggling management work, the provincial government executive meeting approved the "Hainan Anti-Smuggling Comprehensive Governance Work Regulations". As a local law, the Regulations have further specified the anti-smuggling system under the Customs Law, which has consolidated the anti-smuggling responsibilities of all relevant parties, including the people ’s governments at and above the county level and their leading anti-smuggling governance agencies.
The "Regulations" clearly stipulates that the people's government at or above the county level shall lead the comprehensive anti-smuggling management work in the administrative region, establish the anti-smuggling comprehensive management work responsibility system, and set up the anti-smuggling comprehensive management leading institution. The anti-smuggling comprehensive governance leadership will play an important role in all aspects of smuggling prevention, detection, and handling, and effectively shoulder the heavy burden of fulfilling the local government ’s anti-smuggling responsibilities.
Moreover, the "Regulations" clarify the duties of customs and maritime police to investigate and deal with smuggling and illegal crimes in accordance with the provisions of the state, and at the same time highlight the responsibilities of the public security organ as the main department for investigating and handling smuggling. The responsibilities of the township and township people's governments and sub-district offices in supporting and cooperating with relevant departments in carrying out comprehensive anti-smuggling management work have been stipulated, and the responsibility for comprehensive anti-smuggling management has been transmitted to the grassroots.
"Legal Daily" reporter noted that the "Regulations" stipulates that the institutions determined by the Provincial People's Government shall be responsible for the inspection of goods transported out of the island through ports, railways, and airports. This is one of the comprehensive management measures to prevent smuggling of non-settlement sites in response to the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port and the characteristics of Hainan islands. It is mainly to prevent tax-exempt imported goods from being smuggled out of the island through domestic trade freight channels.
In order to achieve control and openness, and at the same time to ensure the convenience of the passage of goods, the "Regulations" authorize the provincial people's government to formulate specific methods for the inspection of island goods based on the actual needs of the construction and development of Hainan Free Trade Port. In addition, related departments and units such as market supervision and management, drug supervision and management, transportation, fisheries, tobacco monopoly, and maritime affairs are required to jointly carry out comprehensive anti-smuggling management work in accordance with their respective responsibilities.
Prohibition of smuggling imported goods
In the context of a free trade port, Hainan ’s anti-smuggling work shows that it must control both inflows and outflows, and it must prevent risks at both customs and non-supplied sites, as well as traditional and new risks. Many new features such as the risks brought by the format. To this end, the "Regulations", on the basis of emphasizing the prohibition of the use of preferential tariff policies and conveniences granted by the state to the province for smuggling and criminal activities, actively respond to the actual needs of the anti-smuggling work of free trade ports.
The "Regulations" are linked to the Customs Law, the Hainan Islands Duty Free Policy and the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. It not only explicitly prohibits smuggling under the Customs Law, but also specifically prohibits violations of the state and the province ’s regulations on the import and export of goods and articles under the Hainan Free Trade Port. Relevant regulations arbitrarily transport, carry, mail and export tax-exempt imported goods and articles for profit. At the same time, it is clear that the duty-free articles of Hainan Islands shall be supervised in accordance with relevant national regulations.
At the same time, it is clearly prohibited to engage in the operation of importing goods without legal source certification, and requires importing goods operators to request or copy the legal source certification of imported goods, and establish a certificate file and purchase and sales record system. It requires the market supervision and management departments to strengthen the supervision and inspection of the operation of imported goods.
It is understood that, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Customs Law and drawing on the experience and practices of other provinces and cities, the Regulations also explicitly prohibit any unit or individual from providing loans, funds, account numbers, invoices, illegal smuggling and importation of goods without legal sources. Certificates, customs documents, or provide transportation, storage, mailing, and other conveniences.
In response to the main smuggling phenomena in practice, according to the specific requirements for the comprehensive anti-smuggling governance of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the "Regulations" clearly prohibit the use of ships, vehicles, aircraft and other transportation vehicles for transportation, acquisition, and trafficking. Restricted entry and exit of goods and articles, or transport, purchase, or sale of imported goods without tax reduction and exemption. At the same time, customs, maritime police, public security organs, maritime affairs, and fisheries departments are required to focus on investigating the smuggling of ships without a vessel name, ship certificate, or port of registry.
Building a long-term anti-smuggling governance mechanism
As we all know, anti-smuggling work involves a wide range of areas, which requires combination of prevention and prevention, and comprehensive measures. It also requires local governments and relevant departments to cooperate and cooperate closely in the comprehensive anti-smuggling work.
To this end, the "Regulations" require the establishment of a series of anti-smuggling coordination and handling mechanisms, such as the establishment of a comprehensive anti-smuggling military-civilian coordination linkage comprehensive governance mechanism, smuggling case-related goods and articles handling mechanism, anti-smuggling emergency handling mechanism, and anti-smuggling comprehensive governance early warning Monitoring mechanism, inter-provincial exchange and cross-border exchange cooperation mechanism, etc.
How to clarify the responsibility of anti-smuggling investigations and establish an investigation work mechanism? The "Regulations" stipulates the investigation responsibilities of governments at all levels, comprehensive anti-smuggling leadership agencies and relevant departments. Requires the anti-smuggling comprehensive governance leadership, customs, maritime police, public security organs and other departments to use information platforms such as social management information platforms and logistics supervision platforms to conduct situational awareness, early warning prediction, comprehensive research and judgment on smuggling activities, and find leads for suspected smuggling And conduct timely verification and disposal. It was made clear that when an institution identified by the provincial government found out the goods on the island and found to be suspected of smuggling, it should be promptly transferred to the customs or public security organ for handling according to law.
In response to the accountability of smuggling and illegal crimes, the Regulations detail the smuggling and criminal acts and other related illegal acts in the context of the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, stipulating strict punishment measures, and linking with customs and criminal laws.
In addition, strengthen credit supervision and punishment. If there are illegal acts stipulated in the Regulations, they shall be recorded in the credit file in accordance with the relevant provisions and publicized. For enterprises and individuals with serious breach of trust, the relevant departments shall adopt the cancellation of customs clearance facilities and the sale of imported goods subject to tax reduction or exemption. Qualifications and other measures shall be jointly punished; when jointly punishing severely untrustworthy enterprises, corresponding punishment measures shall be taken against the relevant responsible personnel at the same time.
Comics / Gao Yue