The General Administration of Customs issued two consecutive documents on 20 10. First, Announcement No.43 of the General Administration of Customs, "Relevant Matters on Adjusting the Measures for the Administration of Inbound and Outbound Personal Mailing Articles", lowered the tax exemption standard for personal mailing articles, and stipulated that the import tax payable was lower than RMB 50 yuan (including 50 yuan), while the previous import tax payable was lower than RMB 500 yuan, which was exempted by the customs. The other is Document No.54 of the General Administration of Customs, which stipulates that the customs shall release the imported articles for personal use carried by inbound passengers duty-free. If the total value is less than 5,000 yuan, the customs will only levy taxes on imported articles for personal use exceeding 5,000 yuan, and the customs will only levy taxes on the excess articles for personal use, and fully levy taxes on undivided single articles.
The above two documents are aimed at overseas purchasing goods by mail and personal carrying. The collection standards have become stricter and the supervision in the implementation process has been strengthened. Once it is not implemented according to the regulations, it is suspected of tax evasion.
Second, the risk of administrative punishment
Take cosmetics with the largest proportion of overseas purchasing as an example, the safety problems of cosmetics are mainly manifested in the use of prohibited raw materials, microbial contamination, allergic substances and so on. China's regulations on the import and circulation of cosmetics mainly include:
1, Regulations on Hygienic Supervision of Cosmetics: "Imported cosmetics must be approved by the health administrative department of the State Council".
2. Notice of the Ministry of Health on Simplifying the Hygienic Licensing Procedure for Imported Cosmetics for Non-special Purpose in 2004 (No.20042 17 issued by the Health Supervision Department): Since August 1 2004, the imported cosmetics for non-special purpose have been put on record, and in addition, the imported cosmetics for special purpose need to be licensed.
3. Cosmetic operators who distribute imported cosmetics without the approval of the Ministry of Health shall be punished in accordance with Article 26 of the Regulations on Cosmetic Hygiene Supervision.
Three. intellectual property
A considerable part of the reason for the existence of overseas purchasing is that genuine manufacturers implement different pricing strategies in different countries, which leads to the price difference of the same product at home and abroad. Importing foreign low-priced products to domestic sales in the form of purchasing involves the parallel import of intellectual property rights. Regarding the parallel import of patents, trademarks and copyrights, China allows the parallel import of patented products, but there is no clear stipulation on whether to allow the parallel import of carrier products of trademarks and copyrights. It is generally believed that parallel imports of goods should be regarded as infringement if they change their original appearance or quality, resulting in the decline of product reputation or mistaken recognition by consumers, otherwise they should not be regarded as infringement according to the principle of exhaustion.
Fourth, consumer rights.
If the purchased goods have quality defects or even damage to users, there are two major obstacles for the actual buyers to claim compensation from overseas retailers, namely, the application of law and the relativity of contracts.
As far as the application of the law is concerned, for example, if the purchase contract between a nominal buyer and an overseas retailer is concluded in Hong Kong and other places, the local laws of Hong Kong can be applied, and if the damage occurs in the Mainland, the contract law and the consumer protection law can also be applied, which may involve conflicts in the application of the law.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) Legal risks of buyers and third-party procurement platforms
1, about the buyer
In my opinion, overseas purchasing is a commercial contractual relationship. Based on this premise, the buyer, as the seller, will face all the potential legal risks that may occur in the above analysis, including taxation, administrative supervision, intellectual property rights, consumer rights and so on.
2. Risks of third-party procurement platforms
The third-party purchasing platform here refers to a platform that only provides technical platform support for purchasing behavior and does not participate in actual purchasing or share benefits from it. Take the purchasing website as an example. According to the legal provisions of Article 44 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, consumers who purchase goods or receive services through online trading platforms may claim compensation from sellers or service providers if their legitimate rights and interests are damaged. If the online trading platform provider cannot provide the real name, address and effective contact information of the seller or service provider, consumers may also demand compensation from the online trading platform provider; If the online trading platform provider makes a promise that is more beneficial to consumers, it shall fulfill the promise. After compensation, the online trading platform provider has the right to recover from the seller or service provider.
Accordingly, if the purchasing website cannot provide consumers with the real name, address and effective contact information of the purchaser, consumers can also claim compensation from the purchasing website.