Article 32. Articles registered with and approved by the Customs for temporarily entering or leaving the territory duty-free, shall be taken out or brought into the territory again by the owner.

Persons passing through the territory may not leave in the territory, without customs approval, the articles they carry with them.

Article 33. In accordance with Article 21 of this Law, the Customs shall dispose of inward and outward articles declared to be abandoned by the owner; articles to which no one makes a claim or for which customs formalities are not completed within the time limit set by the Customs; and inward postal items which can neither be delivered nor be returned.

Article 34. Inward and outward articles intended for official or personal use by foreign missions or personnel enjoying diplomatic privileges and immunities shall be dealt with in accordance with the Regulations of the People 's Republic of China on Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities.

CHAPTER V CUSTOMS DUTIES

Article 35. Unless otherwise provided for in this Law, customs duties shall be levied according to the import and export tariff on goods permitted to be imported or exported and articles permitted to enter or leave the territory. The tariff shall be made known to the public.

Article 36. The consignee of import goods, the consignor of export goods and the owner of inward and outward articles shall be the obligatory customs duty payer.

Article 37. The customs duty payer of import or export goods shall pay the amount levied within seven days following the date of issuance of the duty memorandum. In case of failure to meet this time limit, a fee for delayed payment shall be imposed by the Customs. Where the delay exceeds three months, the Customs may instruct the guarantor to pay the duties or sell off the goods to offset the duties. The Customs may inform the bank to deduct the amount of duties due from the deposits of the guarantor or the obligatory customs duty payer when it considers this necessary.

The payment of duties on inward or outward articles shall be made, prior to their release, by the obligatory customs duty payer.

Article 38. The duty-paying value of an import item shall be its normal CIF price, which shall be approved by the Customs; the duty-paying value of an export item shall be its normal FOB price, which shall be approved by the Customs, minus the export duty. Where it is impossible to ascertain the CIF or FOB price, the duty-paying value of an import or export item shall be fixed by the Customs.

The duty-paying value of an inward or outward article shall be fixed by the Customs.

Article 39. Duty reduction or exemption shall be granted for import or export goods and inward or outward articles listed below:

(1) advertising items and trade samples of no commercial value;

(2) materials presented free of charge by foreign governments or international organizations;

(3) goods to which damage or loss has occurred prior to customs release;

(4) articles of a quantity or value within the fixed limit;

(5) other goods and articles specified by law as items for duty reduction or exemption; and

(6) goods and articles specified as items for duty reduction or exemption by international treaties to which the People's Republic of China is either a contracting or an acceding party.

Article 40. Duty reduction or exemption may be granted for import and export goods of the Special Economic Zones and other specially designated areas; for import and export goods of specific enterprises such as Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures, Chinese-foreign contractual joint ventures and enterprises with exclusive foreign investment; for import and export goods devoted to specific purposes; and for materials donated for use by public welfare undertakings. The State Council shall define the scope and formulate the rules for such reduction and exemption.

The State Council or departments empowered by the State Council shall define the scope and formulate the rules for duty reduction or exemption involved in small volumes of border transactions.

Article 41. All import goods and articles for which duty reduction or exemption is granted in accordance with the preceding Article shall be used only in specific areas and enterprises or for specific purposes. They shall not be utilized otherwise unless customs approval is obtained and duties duly paid.

Article 42. Temporary duty reduction or exemption not specified in Article 39 and 40 of this law shall be examined and approved by the General Customs Administration independently or jointly with the financial department under the State Council in accordance with the regulations of the State Council.

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