Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs, and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine jointly issued a notice and decided to focus on rectifying and standardizing the operational services and fees for import and export operations, focusing on rectifying and standardizing the port terminals. Services, port inspections and inspections, etc., further reduce the burden on import and export companies and promote the steady growth of foreign trade.

According to the notice, the rectification of the normative tasks includes the standardization of import and export operations and services, the elimination of administrative approval front-end service projects for import and export links without laws and regulations, and the administration of monopoly operations, mandatory services, and forced fee-charging activities based on administrative power; Charging behaviors include the disclosure of pre-approval administrative approval services or mandatory service items involving charges, and the introduction of a competition mechanism to regulate prices through the market; regulate the management of pricing charges and incorporate government-pricing and government-guided pricing services into government pricing. Inventory management, strict verification of service costs, establishment of service prices, establishment and improvement of inventory lists for import and export links, regular monitoring and analysis, and third-party evaluation of charging policies, and promotion of transparent, institutionalized and scientific management of charges.

In response to the port terminal service, the notice states that the operational services and charges provided by ports and terminal operators to foreign trade ships, cargo, and transport vehicles shall strictly comply with the provisions of the national and provincial price administrations on port charges, and shall strictly violate the national standards. Charges and billing methods are forbidden, mandatory services and forced charging are strictly prohibited, and it is forbidden to add project fees in violation of regulations.

The notice requires that the relevant departments of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) conduct self-examination and self-correction on the operational services and fees involved in the import and export of each business unit of the system. The State Council’s relevant industry authorities, provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), and the finance departments must establish a list of import and export link catalogs, stable monitoring channels, and regular monitoring and analysis systems to promote the establishment and implementation of third-party evaluation systems for charging policies.