Announcement of the Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration and the General Administr

According to the Announcement, the provision, which reads "tariff relief shall cease to be granted to 20 commodities whichever regions they are imported into, whichever enterprises/entities/individuals they are imported by and whatever modes of trade they are imported in" set forth in the Circular of the State Council on Approving and Forwarding the Opinions of the Customs Tariff Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration on the Second Set of Clearing up Tariffs and Deduction and Exemption of Import Taxes, will no longer be implemented from the date of announcement, upon approval of the State Council.

The Announcement points out that 20 commodities include TV set, video camera, video tape recorder, enlarging machine, audio equipment, air conditioner, refrigerator and freezing cabinet, washing machine, cameras, photocopiers, program-controlled telephone switches, microcomputers and peripherals, telephones, wireless paging systems, fax machines, electronic calculators, typewriters and word processors, furniture, lamps and some foods (referring to condiments, meat, poultry, eggs, vegetables, aquatic products, fruits, beverages, wine and dairy products).

The Announcement also stipulates that in case of any inconsistency between current relevant policies and the Announcement, the latter shall prevail.