On January 1, 2024, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will officially celebrate its second anniversary. In the past two years, Hebei has issued a total of 15,662 RCEP certificates of origin and declarations, helping Hebei's foreign trade to grow steadily and injecting new vitality into the overseas market expansion of import and export enterprises.
According to the data, in the past two years, Shijiazhuang Customs has issued a total of 11,185 RCEP certificates of origin and declarations, and the import and export value under RCEP is 64400 million yuan (the same below), enterprises enjoy tariff reduction and exemption 15.2 billion yuan. At the same time, the Provincial Council for the Promotion of International Trade issued 4,477 RCEP certificates of origin, and the export value of the visa was 144.7 billion yuan.
RCEP covers the 10 ASEAN countries, as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, and is the world's largest free trade agreement. After the agreement comes into effect, more than 90% of the goods in the region will achieve zero tariff, and the preferential results will directly benefit consumers and industry enterprises, greatly reducing the cost of enterprises abroad.
Tariff concession is the most important institutional opening achievement of RCEP in the field of goods, and the certificate of origin is the 'economic passport' for products to enjoy tariff reduction, which is known as 'paper' Guo Xiaoxia, director of the customs department of Shijiazhuang Customs.
Use good "paper **" to broaden the route to the sea. As one of Hebei's labor-intensive export commodities, clothing and textile products have become an important beneficiary after the RCEP comes into effect.
After the RCEP comes into effect, the company's fireproof cloth products exported to Japan can enjoy a reduction of 09% to 11% tariff preference, open up the international market more confidence. Recently, Yao Yongli, manager of the foreign trade department of Hebei Laili Yiteng Plastic Manufacturing, introduced that the company mainly produces plastic and textile fabric woven cloth products. Since January 1, 2022, the company has handled a total of 529 RCEP certificates of origin, with a value of about 200 million yuan in export benefits.
In addition to the significant reduction of tariffs, the RCEP has implemented a large-scale self-declaration of origin system for approved exporters for the first time, further enhancing the level of preferential treatment and facilitation for enterprises.
On January 1, 2022, Hebei Yuanfa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. applied for the province's first RCEP certificate of origin. Nurtured by Customs, the company obtained the Customs "AEO" (Authorized Economic Operator) and "Approved Exporter" certifications in 2023. Today, the company's exports to Japan can be cleared through customs with a self-issued declaration of origin.
After the RCEP came into effect, the value of the company's Chinese herbal medicines exported to Japan increased year after year, and the export value in 2023 was 88.76 million yuan, an increase of 78 compared with 2021 before the implementation of RCEP3%。Liu Cuijuan, head of foreign trade of Hebei Yuanfa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., said.
In order to help enterprises make good use of the preferential RCEP tariff policies, Shijiazhuang Customs and the Provincial Council for the Promotion of International Trade and other departments have made every effort to provide policy interpretation services. Shijiazhuang Customs continues to track the effectiveness of RCEP implementation, relying on the customs big data information system, comprehensively analyzing Hebei's characteristic products and key enterprises, implementing targeted and precise assistance, and helping enterprises fully enjoy policy dividends. In the past two years, the scope of beneficiary enterprises has gradually expanded, and the number of enterprises enjoying import and export benefits has increased from 321 in 2022 to 680.
On April 1 this year, Japan implemented the fourth reduction of import tariffs under the RCEP agreement, and the goods exported to Japan by Hebei enterprises will receive greater tariff preferences and lower customs clearance costs, which is very beneficial to enhance the competitiveness of Hebei enterprises in the Japanese market. Guo Xiaoxia said that she hopes that Hebei foreign trade enterprises will seize the opportunity, make good use of the rules, and further develop the market of Japan and other RCEP member countries. (Reporter Yuan Lili, correspondent Zhang Shaopu).