China Inspection and Quarantine Times - A shipment of automotive mounting brackets valued at over 3 million yuan recently completed the entire procedure from machine inspection to automated system review and release at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in just four minutes, with the intelligent review segment completed in just 12 seconds.This highly efficient and seamless smart inspection scenario is powered by the newly launched "Customs Intelligent Inspection ETC" system from Ningbo Customs, which is designed around the principles of Efficient, Targeted, and Centralized processing.
As a critical sector of Ningbo's trillion-yuan industrial cluster, the automotive parts industry demonstrates robust export growth. In the first three quarters of this year, the city’s automotive parts exports totaled 24.07 billion yuan, reflecting a 2.7 percent year-on-year growth.
Ningbo Customs has long been committed to building a new supervision framework centered on intelligent image review, so as to support the high-quality development of local key industries.To further address the growing need for faster inspection and export clearance amid rapid industry expansion, Ningbo Customs developed the Customs Intelligent Inspection ETC system following in-depth preliminaryresearch. The system prioritizes machine inspection, leveraging its inherent advantages of being "non-invasive and quick-inspection", while simultaneously integrating intelligent image review technology to greatlyenhance inspection efficiency.
In addition, it also integrates enterprise creditworthiness into its analytical framework, enabling enterprises to participate at zero additional cost. By supporting the establishment of a localized image database for intelligent product recognition, the approach unlocks policy benefits for a broader range of companies without requiring additional investment from them.
To date, Ningbo Customs has developed specialized algorithm models for 25 categories of automotive parts, comprising over 200 distinct models. This effort has resulted in the initial establishment of a professional localized image database for intelligent product recognition, centered on automotive parts that represent more than 80 percent of export volume.
“When a product in the database is flagged for inspection, the system automatically cross-references the images for machine inspection with the product information filed by the enterprise. It prioritizes applying the Customs Intelligent Inspection ETC algorithm model for analysis, generating an intelligent image review conclusion to support Customs officers in conducting accurate and efficient inspection and release,” explained a representative from the Machine Inspection Section at Beilun Customs, a subsidiary of Ningbo Customs.
Since its pilot operation, the system has consistently achieved an intelligent recognition accuracy rate exceeding 85 percent for cataloged products in the database, with an average analysis time of just 12 seconds and full inspection cycles compressed to as little as four minutes. Estimates indicate that companies utilizing the localized image database for intelligent product recognition have seen their inspection efficiency improve by over 30 percent.This initiative has been recognized as a 2024 Outstanding Institutional Innovation Case in the Ningbo area of the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone and has been incorporated into the 2025 key initiatives for intelligent image review launched by the General Administration of Customs.
Ningbo Customs is now advancing the expansion of the Customs Intelligent Inspection ETC system - progressively extending enterprise coverage from Ningbo to Zhejiang Province and the broader Yangtze River Delta region, while also diversifying its product categories from automotive parts to the "new three" (namely electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products) and home appliances sectors.Looking ahead, Ningbo Customs will further evolve its machine inspection approach into an integrated "supervision plus service" paradigm, enhancing both regulatory precision and service convenience. This effort helps contributethe "Ningbo Approach" towards achieving 24/7, year-round intelligent image review for fast-track Customs clearance.
(Correspondents: Lv Peifeng and Zeng Dongdong)
Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of China Inspection and Quarantine Times. The China Inspection and Quarantine Times version shall prevail.
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