According to the news of October 16 released by Guangzhou Customs, a new SSTL air lane for import (included in China-EU Smart and Secure Trade Lanes Pilot Program) has just been established between Guangzhou Baiyun Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport of the Netherlands. This is the first new lane that is proposed by Customs Administration of the Netherlands to China and has been successfully opened. The latest statistics by Guangzhou Customs indicates that, regarding the trade with the Netherlands from January to September this year , the import and export volume by  SSTL air lanes has totaled 20.57 million yuan and the  import and export volume by SSTL maritime lanes has totaled 324 TEUs, with cargo value reaching 93.79 million yuan.

Guangzhou Customs has actively carried out cooperation with Netherlands Customs in promoting trade facilitation, opening SSTL air lanes between Guangzhou Baiyun Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. On March 21 this year, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport witnessed smooth customs clearance of the first consignment of goods exported from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport via the SSTL air lane, making Guangzhou Customs become China’s first Customs District that has opened both import and export SSTL air lanes. On April 16, the first consignment of goods imported via SSTL maritime lane from Rotterdam port, the Netherlands to Nansha port, Guangzhou went through customs procedures successfully, marking the realization of SSTL maritime lanes in the two ways. Since this year, Guangzhou Customs has established 6 new SSTL lanes connecting with Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and Rotterdam port, adding up to 8 SSTL lanes between China and the Netherlands.

Guangzhou Customs and Netherlands Customs share international customs statistics on the World Customs Organization (WCO) platform CenComm, and both sides keep each other informed about the situation of customs clearance through video conferences on a regular basis to realize mutual exchange of information, mutual recognition of control and mutual assistance of enforcement. Furthermore, Guangzhou Customs has specially set up customs affairs coordinators at ports and solidified the practices and procedures of selecting pilot enterprises and evaluating enterprise credits. Enterprises engaged in the SSTL pilot program will be prioritized to go through customs procedures such as document examination, container allocation and cargo inspection at designated ports. Guangzhou Customs will track each SSTL consignment during customs clearance to analyze and continuously optimize the effectiveness of the whole process. Currently, the customs clearance time of goods imported through SSTL air lanes has been cut down to 4 to 26 minutes, and that of goods imported through SSTL maritime lanes has shortened to 39 minutes, both far quicker than other import lanes.

In addition, China and the Netherlands have launched the project of “optimizing cross-border clearance procedures”. Both sides work together to promote AEO mutual recognition in order to simplify customs procedures for export enterprises in both countries. The two parties also cooperate on issues such as “risk management” and “coordinated border management”. The two sides also established the mechanism of pre-arrival information sharing of manifest data, implemented electronic waybills operation between Amsterdam and Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, and pushed forward the electronic freight to achieve paperless clearance for both import and export.