Cross border Trade Facilitation Special Action - "Fresh Express Line" on the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge (pictured)

The picture shows customs officers supervising imported fruits. Photo by Lin Changfeng

In the summer of June, at the Zhuhai Highway Port of the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge, a Guangdong Hong Kong cold chain transport vehicle drove towards a designated comprehensive regulatory site. Inside the vehicle were fresh plums that had just been air freighted from overseas and transited through Hong Kong. The carriage door opened, and cold air came out. The customs officers quickly carried out their work, checking the seal, inspecting the packaging, and conducting fruit inspection and quarantine.

These plums were transferred from Hong Kong airport and cleared customs in Zhuhai in less than an hour, "said Zhou Shouming, the customs manager of Shanghai Ouheng Supply Chain Group Co., Ltd., while cooperating with customs inspection.

More than a year ago, cross-border fresh entry on the west bank of the the Pearl River was highly dependent on the eastern ports such as Shenzhen Bay and Wenjindu on the east bank of the the Pearl River. "East to west transportation, bypass transportation" was the norm. Further goods need to be transported from East China to South China, which will take at least an extra day on the road.

In order to solve the difficulties in fresh food logistics, Gongbei Customs, in collaboration with Hong Kong Customs, has built the "Air Land Fresh Product Exclusive Express Line", giving full play to the advantages of the Hong Kong International Airport hub and the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge channel, innovating the supervision mode of "one lock to the end+whole process monitoring", opening up the cross-border fresh food logistics channel on the west bank of the the Pearl River, and realizing a direct connection between the international market and the mainland market.

Through technologies such as electronic locks and positioning systems, we ensure that the trajectory of transportation vehicles from Hong Kong International Airport to Zhuhai Port can be traced throughout the entire process. "Li Qi, the head of the Customs Supervision Department of the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge, introduced that in response to the difficulty of verifying the" original box "of fruits transported by air through transit, Gongbei Customs and Hong Kong Customs have established a cooperation mechanism for inspection and quarantine supervision, innovated the" original box "verification mode, and replaced traditional supervision with" integrity of goods packaging+full traceability supervision ".

After the comprehensive designated supervision site of Daqiao Port was put into use, we continued to optimize the supervision mode, targeted the opening of the 'cold chain fast track', and formed a professional qualification team to rotate 24 hours a day, fully ensuring the rapid inspection and release of fresh products such as fruits. The Daqiao Port comprehensive designated supervision site was built strictly in accordance with customs supervision requirements, equipped with 6 cold storage rooms that can meet different temperature standards and nearly 30 professional technical rooms, and has gradually become an important node in cross-border fresh logistics in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area.

Channel connectivity, efficiency improvement, cost reduction, and vitality enhancement. Now the goods in the South China market are cleared through customs nearby, the transportation distance is shorter, the cargo damage rate is lower, and the comprehensive logistics cost has also been reduced. "Zhou Shouming introduced that with the smooth operation of the" Fresh Express ", enterprises have more confidence in expanding their trade categories. Currently, they are planning to import another batch of cherries and continue to expand the fresh consumption market in the Greater Bay Area.

Since the beginning of this year, the customs has supervised the import of over 200 tons of edible fresh goods at the comprehensive designated supervision site of Daqiao Port, with a value of over 8 million yuan. From channel opening to institutional upgrading, this efficient and convenient green channel will continue to allow more high-quality fresh products from around the world to enter thousands of households, injecting sustained momentum into the facilitation of cross-border trade in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. (Sun Feng/Text)