Customs authorities cope with surge in health-product shipments
Local customs authorities have witnessed a sharp rise in packages containing health products like masks, goggles and gloves entering China from overseas due to an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus-related pneumonia.
According to postal customs, officers have seen a daily increase of nearly 2,000 packages of such goods, nearly half of which are transferred to nearby Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces.
Most of the packages are ordered by domestic consumers from e-commerce platforms like Amazon which provide overseas delivery services, or shipped to China by recipients' relatives or friends living overseas.
More than 95 percent of these parcels are from Japan, and the rest are from countries like German and the US.
To ensure quick entry into the country, customs departments have staffed more inspection officers than usual during the Spring Festival holiday. Senders and recipients can also make their declarations online.
Those with urgent demands can also call the postal customs' 24-hour hotline 021-56355716 for expedited clearance.
According to Yuan Jiong with postal customs, generally, if the recipient is in Shanghai, it takes only two to three days for a parcel to arrive.
Meanwhile, customs authorities are still making strict checks to ensure that no prohibited items enter the country.
On Sunday, more than 1,200 boxes of gene amplification regent imported from Lithuania for use in coronavirus test kits underwent rapid clearance at Wusong Customs.
Post customs officers check the information of packages and scan them with an X-ray machine.
A postal customs officer searches for contraband items in packages with a sniffer dog.
Most packages containing masks, gloves and related products are shipped from overseas via e-commerce platforms or from recipients' relatives or friends living abroad.
