On The Improvement Of The Legal System Of China Customs Tariff

The tariff revenue plays an important role in China's fiscal and market policies. Especially after China's accession to World Trade Organization (WTO), with the reduction and elimination of the non-tariff barriers, tariff adjustment has been the main approach for China to protect the domestic industries, prevent dumping and ensure the balance of payment. Thus it is meaningful to study China's tariff legal issues in order to make it more effective and efficient. Until now there are few such studies, so for me this is an almost unprecedented job. During the analysis, I will combine my experiences and practices in China Customs with some legal theories to examine the relevant issues.This dissertation consists of 5 parts. Part one, the preamble of this dissertation, introduces the basic information, including the purposes, the importance and the main standpoint. The author argues that the research on the problems existing in China's tariff legal system now is very important for designing the task of the tariff policies. But unfortunately there has been little research in this field by now. Part two explores the history and the frame of the tariff legal system. To explore the history of the tariff legal system, this part decomposes the history into two periods-the period before 1978 and the one after 1978. The frame of the tariff legal system includes the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China, Regulations of the People's Republic of China on import and export duties, the related laws and regulations,the other laws and regulations that the customs authority is responsible for application, and international treaty.Part three sets out the main problems of the tariff legal system now.Firstly, the author points out that there are many problems in harmonization and unification of the tariff legal system. Secondly, there are many problems in the publicity and transparence. Thirdly, the customs authority put too much emphasis on substantive law, while ignoring the procedural law. Lastly, many regulations are not practicable and difficult to be implemented.Part four deals with the possibility and means to improve the tariff legal system. The author argues that we should change the way of thinking, try to increase transparency, and accelerate the construction of the tariff legal system. The author also suggests in details that we should reform the tariff legal system, establish a procedure to enhance the supervision on the regulations in the General Administration of Customs, increase the transparence of the regulations by establishing a website for laws and regulations inquiry/consultation, etc.Part five concludes that China Customs is facing greater challenges than before since China's entry into WTO. To solve the four main problems mentioned above in the tariff legal system, China Customs has to make much more effort to improve the current legal system and his own management. As the author suggests the entry into WTO also provides a good opportunity for China Customs to draw good experiences and practices from other member countries, thus accelerate the process of legislation and reform.