China's New Express Delivery Standard Takes Effect May 1: Package Inspection, Inspect-Before-Sign and Delivery Deadlines Reshape Parcel Shipping

China's Express Delivery Service series of national standards entered into force on May 1. The rules define inspect-before-sign receipt, treat an inter-provincial shipment taking longer than seven days as a total delay, and require civilized sorting, while granting couriers the right to open and check parcels at the point of mailing. Most consumers have responded positively, yet turning every clause into daily practice will take a period of adjustment for everyone involved.

Abnormal outer packaging? Verify the contents before signing

As of today, the standards apply. Couriers are required to tell recipients to inspect a shipment face to face before signing for it; where the outer packaging shows obvious damage or another abnormality, the recipient must be asked to check the contents first and only then complete the signature.

Zeng Yi, an associate researcher at the China National Institute of Standardization, explained in a media interview that the standard addresses parcels by category. For an ordinary shipment, the recipient should examine the outer packaging before signing, looking for damage, a drop in weight or traces of repacking. If the outside is damaged or otherwise abnormal, the contents should be verified first, with the courier expected to cooperate.

For online purchases, cash-on-delivery items and similar shipments, the express service provider must follow national rules and sign a contract with the sender (the merchant) specifying whether goods are inspected before signing or signed for before inspection. Where inspect-first is the agreed term, the courier cannot demand that the consumer sign first. Xiao Luosheng, who heads the market supervision division of the Hunan Provincial Postal Administration, noted that Hunan already allowed inspection-before-signing for mail-order, online and TV shopping purchases back in 2009.

If someone else signs without consent and the parcel goes missing, the courier firm carries full liability

On deliveries received by a third party, the express service provider must take care that couriers never hand a shipment to another person to sign for, including a company mailroom or a residential compound gatekeeper, without the consent of the recipient or the sender. Should the item be lost or another problem arise as a result, the express service organization bears full responsibility.

At least two free delivery attempts are also mandated. If a parcel remains undelivered after both attempts and the recipient still wants it delivered, the company may charge an extra fee, provided the rate is disclosed in advance. On compensation, couriers must remind senders to declare a value for their shipment: a lost or damaged item with a declared value is compensated accordingly, while an undeclared shipment is settled according to the actual extent of loss or through negotiation between the two sides, rather than at three to five times the shipping fee.

Domestic long-haul shipments: more than seven days counts as a delay

According to Xiao Luosheng, consumers whose parcels arrive outside the timeframes set by the new rules may file a compensation claim with the courier company.

The limits are 24 hours for intra-city delivery, 72 hours for domestic non-local delivery, six working days for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, six working days for Asia and North America, eight working days for Europe and nine working days for Oceania. More than three days for intra-city and more than seven days for domestic non-local service constitutes a delay, remedied by waiving that shipment's service fee (excluding add-ons such as declared value). Where delay directly destroys the value of the contents, such as mooncakes or other food spoiling, the case is handled as a loss or damage claim.

On the morning of May 1, Fang Guibao of YTO Express's Qibao branch called at a resident's home on Huamao Road in Minhang District to collect a parcel, and deliberately asked a few more questions than usual.

The package contained four small boxes of tea. Fang examined them closely and then asked the customer to fill in the waybill. 'The new national standard starts today. Our company trained us on it well beforehand.'

In Fang's view, the inspection requirements are mainly about safety. Explosives and prohibited goods have turned up in express shipments in some places in recent years, and the company repeatedly stresses delivery security to its staff.

Even so, he admitted that inspecting every single parcel is far from easy. Long-standing corporate customers in office towers often leave a batch of packages at the front desk for couriers to pick up after hours; inspections also consume time, and some couriers, chasing higher pick-up and delivery volumes, are racing the clock and cannot check carefully.

The standard's inspect-before-sign provision, which calls on recipients to verify shipments in person, raises the bar further. 'It places higher demands on our work,' Fang said. 'Recipients are often not at home when we deliver, so we end up making trip after trip.'

Clearly, translating every clause of the new express delivery standard into practice will still take time for all the parties involved.

— Reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362068.html