List of Importers, Brands and Overseas Manufacturers of Imported Infant Formula in China (Latest update to 24 Dec 2014)

In China Infant formula receives the most stringent supervision by the Chinese government primarily as a result of a series of baby milk powder scandals which occurred over the last several years, especially the 2008 melamine scandal. This horrific example of unethical practices and greed superseding food safety and public health concerns caused the deaths of 6 babies and serious harm to around 300,000 Chinese babies. The reputation of infant formula and other foods made in China plummeted when the scandal broke. Since 2008 hundreds of foreign made or falsely claimed as imported infant formula were commonplace in the Chinese marketplace. In 2013, AQSIQ, (the Chinese authority in charge of imported foods management), required overseas infant formula manufacturers to be registered with AQSIQ in order to supervise the safety of infant formula throughout the supply chain. (Click here to see the latest list of approved manufacturers).

Later, AQSIQ published the list of Chinese importers and brands of imported infant formula to the public. The following list is updated to 24 Dec 2014 and more importers and brands are to be added in the future.  

As a matter of fact, according to China’s dairy regulation, it is not mandatory for AQSIQ to release such a list and they did not plan to do so. As this information is very important the food regulatory division at REACH24H submitted an application of government information publicity to the AQSIQ and got AQSIQ’s to release the information to us. So far, the main usage of this list we can see is for just for public awareness of what brands are approved to be imported. Then, the public can identify the authenticity of an IF product (there were lots of brands from unofficial channels on the Chinese market and the quality is not assured). The release of such a list provides a valuable tool for social supervision of infant formula to ensure authenticity of imports.

However brands are currently not linked to their overseas approved manufacturers and questions about how and when importer and brands will be added onto this list are still unanswered. The public are still unable to associate the importer and brand with the manufacturer. The registered overseas OEM manufacturers still have no idea of the purpose of this list, how AQSIQ is using the list and when their brands will be included.

Starting from 1 May 2014, AQSIQ’s new rules for import and export of dairy products stipulate registration all foreign dairy manufacturers must be registered with China’s government. There is however no guidance-like document for industry to follow, such as the registration procedure, how to fill out the application form, what to do if they fail China CNCA’s onsite audit for the first time, what to do if they get new infant formula brands to make, etc. Even world-renowned manufacturers equipped with advanced manufacturing processing equipment, well-established quality management and strong R&D ability are completely at a loss with how to comply with these new obligation. At the moment the process is accomplished with help from the competent food authority in their own country and registration is finished by trial and error. Confusions and worries still occur after approval, such as whether all of the brands listed in the application form can be exported, when to start the export, when my brands will be added into above list. What makes the situation even more difficult is direct communication with responsible Chinese government officials from the AQISQ or CNCA is almost impossible. A QA manager from one of the approved manufacturers complains, “The only reason we know we have been approved is because we see our name listed on the CNCA approved manufacturer listing. They did not inform us personally. We did not get any official communication from CNCA, therefore no information on brands permitted is provided.” The Chinese government really needs to change its old style to be more efficient and considerate.

These confusions were sorted out after REACH24H attended a dairy summit held in Beijing in Nov 2014. On the conference, Han Yi, who is the deputy director of Import and Export Food Safety Bureau of AQSIQ, made a clear declaration that the data on importers of imported infant formula and its corresponding products’ brands is collected by each local CIQ every month, and the list promulgated by AQSIQ is updated irregularly on the basis of their data collection. The list aims to inform consumers, but not a directive document. 

 To  sort out the relationship between the importers, brands and manufacturers, ChemLinked has gathered information about the brand and the producer from the internet or companies's official websites and prepared the following list for the public's reference. (Note: this is not an official version. For any discrepancies with facts, the facts should prevail). 

As far as 19 Sep 2014, the numbers of infant formula brands exported to China from countries are shown below,