New Changes in the Import Policy for Used Machinery in 2025

According to Announcement No.18 of 2025 issued by the General Administration of Customs,special attention should be paid to the import of second-hand machinery:If the manufacturing age of the equipment exceeds 8 years,an original factory inspection report is required..Used construction machinery listed in the negative list is prohibited from being imported..The validity period of the import license for used mechanical and electrical products is shortened to 90 days.After the implementation of the new regulations,enterprises need to start the filing process three months in advance.

Decomposition of the Complete Customs Clearance Process

• Step1:ConfirmationofEquipmentCompliance
  • ChecktheregulatoryconditionscorrespondingtotheHScode.
  • Obtainapre-shipmentinspectioncertificate(inspectionabroadisrequiredforkeycountries).
  • Confirmthecompletenessoftheequipmentnameplateinformation.
• Step 2: Application for Licenses and Certificates
  • Importlicenseforusedmechanicalandelectricalproducts(validityperiod:90days)
  • Specialequipmentsafetylicense(pressurevessels/cranes)
  • Automaticimportlicense(Olicense)
• Step 3: Preparation of Declaration Materials
  • Explanationandspecialtermsofthetransactioncontract
  • Bilingualequipmenttechnicalparametercomparisontable(Chinese-English)
  • Customspre-classificationproposal
• Step 4: Response to On - site Inspection
  • Prepareadeviceoperationdemonstrationplaninadvance.
  • Carrytheoriginalsetoftechnicalmaterials.
  • Arrangeprofessionaltechnicianstobepresent.
• Step 5: Follow - up Supervision Connection
  • Recordthefilingofmechanicalandelectricalproductsatthelocalcustoms.
  • Inputintothequalityandsafetytraceabilitysystem.
  • Regularlyreporttheusagestatusofmechanicalandelectricalequipment.

Risk Warning of Typical Cases

When an enterprise imported a CNC machine tool produced in Germany in 2014: Required to be returned due to failure to obtain the original factory inspection report.Classification error caused by the failure to update the equipment software version.The rusted nameplate is unrecognizable,triggering inspection at the destination.Eventually,the demurrage fee exceeded 120,000 yuan,and the project was postponed for 3 months.

Value embodiment of professional agency services

• AvoidHScodedeclarationerrors(17newmechanicalandelectricalsub-tariffcodesaddedin2025)
• Pre-reviewtechnicaldocumentstoavoidprice-assessmentdisputes(focusonreviewingequipmentrefurbishmentrecords)
• Time-efficiencyadvantageofspecialchannelprocessing(theaveragecustomsclearancetimeforusedmechanicalandelectricalproductsisshortenedby40%)

According to customs statistics,the error rate of used machinery import declarations increased by 22% year-on-year in the first six months of 2025,among which70% of the returned documents were due to the expiration of licenses,25% were due to false declaration of equipment technical parameters.It is recommended that enterprises entrust professional agencies for full - process risk management to ensure the timely implementation of import projects.