On January 15, at noon, a batch of 1.2 tons of Australian cherries arrived at Xiasha Park in Cross-Border E-Commerce Experimental Zone of Hangzhou City. Based on Customs-CIQ Cooperation in “Single Declaration, Single Inspection and Single Release” (3 Singles) mechanism, Hangzhou ETDZ Customs House and Hangzhou Entry-Exit Inspection & Quarantine Bureau’s ETDZ Office jointly inspected and released those cherries in an efficient way, marking the first import of fresh fruits on cross-border e-commerce into the Experimental Zone this year.

In only half an hour, 500 cartons of inward cherries got through all clearance formalities. Cross-border e-commerce firms generally felt the clearance much faster with fewer formalities this year than the past. For example, the importer of the cherries, Hangzhou HuaTian E-Commerce Company Limited, indicated by its Manager LU Biyuan that “our cherries from Australian Tasmania, the sweetest batch of this quarter, were delivered in whole-course cold chain by air; through cross-border e-commerce, we only took 3 days to finish the whole course of ‘picking-cleaning-freezing-packing-air transport-customs clearance’; besides, we used Customs-CIQ 3-Singles Cooperation mode to get the clearance even faster than before, making those cherries on the market in a fresher state.”

Since the beginning of 2016, four-five firms have joined in the import cold-chain operation undertaken by the Experimental Zone, with import scope and scale expanding. Seeing a large quantity of fresh/live goods importing before the Spring Festival, Hangzhou Customs District has set up a fast track for fresh/live goods, encouraging the importers to use “Customs-CIQ 3-Singles Cooperation” mode for prompt inspection and release on demand. Moreover, the Customs will go on with its commitment of “365 days on duty and 24-hour service every day” to ensure “fresh marketing” of fresh/live goods.

Customs officers were inspecting inward cherries.