China News Service, Guangzhou, February 19th: The convenience of customs clearance in the Greater Bay Area has been further improved: the advantages are closer and the advantages are stronger
China News Service reporter Xu Qingqing
Every morning, batches of Hong Kong raw milk produced in Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province are shipped to major supermarkets in Hong Kong after passing customs supervision. Hong Kong residents can enjoy fresh milk on the same day. At the Lianhuashan Port, large quantities of cement, river sand and other basic building materials from the mainland are being shipped to Hong Kong to support the advancement of large-scale infrastructure projects there...
Customs officers went to the raw milk dairy breeding base supplying Hong Kong to conduct on-site supervision. Photo provided by Guangzhou Customs
Since the fifth anniversary of the release of the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area", reporters have learned from successive interviews that the customs continues to promote the interconnection of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and strives to create a convenient customs clearance experience through more humane and innovative measures, which not only greatly It has shortened the living and working distance between residents of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and also effectively promoted the integration and renewal based on exchanges and cooperation in the Greater Bay Area, making the advantages of the Greater Bay Area even stronger.
Guangzhou's Lianhuashan Port is strategically located at the Lingding Ocean estuary, with direct waterways leading to Hong Kong and Macao. It has a well-developed supporting high-speed transportation network and is also the main distribution center for construction materials supplied to Hong Kong in the Pearl River Delta.
"In the past, we could only export through transshipment after loading the goods. Now, with the support of convenient measures from the customs and other departments, we can load the cement at designated locations, then go to Lianhuashan Port to complete customs clearance procedures and then export, saving money. This reduces the time and cost of transshipment," said Mai Kawei, business manager of Taiwan Cement (Yingde) Cement Co., Ltd.
In order to further continue to promote the integration of logistics resources in the Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou Customs and Guangzhou Port have innovatively launched the "One Port in the Bay Area" reform, with Nansha Port as the hub port and the Pearl River inland ports as feeder ports, forming a "two ports as one port" The operation mode realizes "one declaration, one inspection and one release" of import and export goods, streamlining the procedures at coastal ports.
Customs officers supervise the "One Port Connect" goods that are about to be exported. Photo provided by Guangzhou Customs
In February this year, 34 containers containing dishwashers, toaster ovens, microwave ovens and other small household appliances for export were transported to Guangzhou Nansha Port by barge after going through customs clearance procedures at the Beijiao Terminal in Shunde, Foshan, using the "One Bay Area One Port" model. , directly loaded onto international freighters and shipped to overseas markets such as the Netherlands and India. "Through the 'One Bay Area One Port' model, we can save 3 to 4 days and effectively reduce operating costs." Zhao Long, director of Foshan Midea Customs Brokerage Co., Ltd. said.
At present, this reform project has been extended to inland ports, with a total of 20 routes opened, and the average cargo storage period has been shortened from 7 days to 2 days. In 2023, the cumulative import and export of goods through this model will reach 165,000 TEUs, saving enterprises more than 40 million yuan in comprehensive costs.
The first step in building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into a first-class bay area is the docking of rules and mechanisms, so as to give full play to its comprehensive advantages on the basis of improving the level of market integration. On April 17 last year, the General Administration of Customs and the Environment and Ecology Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government signed the "Cooperation Arrangement on the Safety Supervision of Raw Milk Supply from the Mainland to Hong Kong". Guangzhou Customs took the lead in piloting cooperation in the safety supervision of raw milk supplied from the Mainland to Hong Kong. According to statistics, in 2023, only Zhaoqing Customs, a subsidiary of Guangzhou Customs, supervised a total of 541 batches of raw milk products supplied to Hong Kong, totaling 9,459 tons.
The horse industry is one of the key development industries in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Plan Outline" proposes to promote the development of horse sports and related industries, and strengthen cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland in entry and exit inspection, quarantine and customs clearance of horses, fodder, veterinary drugs, biological products, etc.
Customs officers supervise cross-border horse racing between Guangdong and Hong Kong. Photo provided by Guangzhou Customs
Guangzhou Customs cooperates with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government to propose a unified implementation of the horse disease surveillance plan between Guangdong and Hong Kong, establish a mechanism for the exchange, mutual recognition and mutual trust of surveillance results, continue to strengthen exchanges and technical research between Guangdong and Hong Kong, and actively promote rules Connection and interconnection. At present, the transportation frequency of Hong Kong racehorses has been increased to "three in and three out" every week, and Guangzhou Conghua Racecourse has nearly 500 resident racehorses.
He Minhui, deputy director of the Comprehensive Business Department of Guangzhou Customs, said that the innovation of the customs supervision system has effectively promoted the convenient cross-border flow of elements in the Greater Bay Area, helped the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration to further improve the level of interconnection, and strengthened the connection of rules and mechanisms. Next, the customs will continue to promote the construction of smart customs, promote the accelerated implementation of multiple smart customs scenario projects, and promote the flow of elements in the Greater Bay Area to achieve a higher level of safety, convenience, and efficiency. (over)