4/27/21 GACC

The decree of the General Administration of Customs No.248 (Decree on the issuance of the “Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Overseas Production Enterprises of Imported Food of the People’s Republic of China”) was published on April 12th, 2021, and it will be implemented starting from January 1^st 2022.  The former decrees No. 145 and No. 243 will be terminated on the same date. In order to help the public and administrative counterparts to better understand this new decree and its key points, the relevant issues are now interpreted as follows:

1. New Decree Background and Purpose:

“Regulations on the Registration and Management of Overseas Production Enterprises of Imported Food”No.145 was formally implemented on May 1, 2012, and it used “Source Supervision Method” to ensure foreign food enterprises are providing safe products to Chinese consumers. It has played an important role in ensuring the safety of food exported to China and promoting the stable development of trades. With the rapid growth of China’s imported food trade volume and consumers’ increasing standards for imported food safety, the current regulations can no longer meet the requirements of the new situation. In order to further use this regulation to governance overseas production enterprises, optimize the registration procedures and clarify the responsibilities of all parties, the GACC update the current decree that is in use.

2. Main Issues that Need to be Interpreted

• Extend the scope of the registration.

Previously only food products under the “Catalog list” need to be registered (meat, aquatic products, dairy products which including infant formula milk powders and bird’s nest products), but now all other food products will also need to be registered before exporting to China.

• Pull In risk management principle, Improve the efficiency of registration management.

Based on the analysis of raw ingredient sources, production and processing methods, food safety historical data, consumer population, food intake methods and the combination of international usual practices, it is determined to adopt the “Officially Recommended Registration” method for 18 categories overseas production enterprises (Article 7 & 8), and for overseas production enterprises of foods other than the 18 categories, a simplified “Enterprise Independent Application” method will be adopted (Article 9).  In addition, it is stipulated that GACC can adjust the registration methods and application materials for related enterprises according to certain food risk changes (Article 6).

• Further consolidate the main responsibility of enterprises.

Clarify that oversea food enterprises should establish effective food safety and hygiene management and protection systems to ensure that food exported to China meets correlative requirements (Article 5); when registered enterprises find that they no longer meet the registration requirements, they should take the initiative to suspend exports to China and take immediate corrective measures (Article 22).

(4)  Further strengthen supervision during and after the registration.

Sort out various experiences from the registration management process.  supplement and refine the applicable circumstances of registration changes, renewals, and cancellations, also enhance the operability of relevant provisions (Articles 19-21, 24). At the same time, strengthen the responsibilities of overseas official authorities, and Define the responsibilities of overseas official authorities in urging registered companies to meet the registration requirements continuously. (Articles 22 and 23)

Source:  http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/302270/302272/3642170/index.html