Takehome:
On Aug 18, 2018, Zhejiang FTZ signed a contract with Alibaba Group to further shorten the time need to successfully file a first imported non-special use cosmetics to three months.
4 months after the launch of Zhejiang pilot filing program, Zhejiang FTZ joins hands with Zhejiang FDA to establish an industrial park in Zhoushan to provide full policy support, such as testing resources, simplifying enterprises' registration procedures and speeding up customs declaration, for first imported non-special use cosmetics applying for filing through Alibaba Group. The filing period will be reduced to between two and three months, which will help enable domestic consumers to purchase the latest foreign cosmetic products at shopping mall counters and e-commerce platforms and eases the current situation of only being able to purchase the latest cosmetics through CBEC, overseas purchase or Daigou (Chinese people living in other countries exporting goods back to China for sale). Alibaba will also provide international stakeholders with full product lifecyle services such as registration, filing, supply chain control.
After the launch of this cooperation project, industry experts estimate that thousands of new products will enter the Chinese market through Zhejiang FTZ every year and will be sold all over the country mainly on through the Tmall platform. Small and medium-sized foreign brands will directly benefit, especially Japanese and Korean brands who are fast adopters of new technologies, responsive to consumer demands and cognizant of the latest trends shaping purchasing decisions.
In September this year, Zhejiang FTZ will introduce Cainiao intelligent logistics system to manage its supply chain and establish a filing product information sharing system, striving to create an international cosmetic trading platform that integrates access, warehousing, processing, display, trading and distribution.
CBEC has been a straight forward way of entering the Chinese market for internatioanl enterprise but its grace period will come to an end in 4 months. The potential for regulatory changes seriously affecting cosmetics traded on CBEC in 2019 is still a real possibility. It is hoped the cooperation project between Zhejiang FTZ and Alibaba Group can become another fast channel for importers to have their products enter into the Chinese market.
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