On April 13, the plaque of Suzhou Industrial Park International Biomaterial Express, so far the only one of its kind authorized by General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the PRC, was unveiled at bioBAY. When it is put into operation, the Express can reduce the average time span of customs declaration and clearance of biomaterials of biopharmaceutical enterprises from three weeks to about one day.

The Express is jointly owned and run by bioBAY-based Suzhou BioTOP Technical Service Co., Ltd. and Suzhou Industrial Park Customs Declaration Co., Ltd.

When the Express is put into operation, the biomaterials for entry and exit can be transferred to "SIP concentrated supervision area of special goods" at BioTOP after they arrive at the port and are cleared by the customs. Later, the inspection and quarantine worker, only by giving the examination order at the office, can complete inspection, quarantine, examination and permission procedures through monitor screen. In addition, the batch by batch approval of low-risk biological products are replaced by single approval and cancel after verification in batches yearly, which streamlines the approval process and provides convenience for enterprises to arrange annual production.

It is reported that this policy is temporarily limited to the evaluated and approved units located in SIP jurisdiction area going in for entry and exit on special goods, which mainly include biopharmaceutical enterprises engaged in R&D, production or test as well as medical service outsourcing enterprises. On the voluntary basis, the enterprises may enjoy "green channel" service so long as they pass evaluation by the inspection and quarantine authority.

According to a staff member of Suzhou inspection and quarantine authority, the Express signifies that the inspection and quarantine authority transforms its supervision method, and will not focus on prior approval but exercise stronger oversight both during and after the handling of matters, and will switch the focus of supervision from special goods themselves to both credit in enterprises and product risk management. When the Express is successful in SIP, its good role will be extended to the city and Jiangsu Province and then the rest of the country.