China Beverage Regulation

1. Competent authority

Competent authority	Responsibility
State Administration for Market egulation (SAMR)	Market supervision
National Health Commission (NHC)	National standard drafting New food ingredient registration
General Administration of Customs of China (GACC)	Customs inspection, quarantine, and declaration Overseas food manufacturers registration

2. Market access approval

2.1 Import permit at state level

Beverage is supervised as common prepackaged food in China, therefore, both the exporting countries/regions and the specific beverage categories are not required to obtain the market access approval.

2.2 Overseas manufacturer registration

According to the Administrative Provisions on Registration of Overseas Manufacturers of Imported Foods, overseas manufacturer registration is mandatory for all imported food products. As beverage is excluded from 19 food categories subject to recommendation registration, the beverage manufacturers can apply for the registration by themselves.

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2.3 Inspection and quarantine

Beverage products, such as soft drinks, juice and protein beverage, are subject to imported food sanitation inspection instead of quarantine. Inspection items include Chinese label, foreign matter, the existence of prohibited food additives and other items related to sanitation.

2.4 Exporter and importer filing

Regardless of food categories, overseas exporters or agents and importers in China shall log into this system and get themselves filed with GACC.

To have a better understanding of China’s food import procedure and supervision mechanism, please check ChemLinked online course: Regulatory Compliance and Import Procedure of Prepackaged Food in China

3. Product compliance

3.1 Product requirements

The national food safety standards specify the definition and technical requirements (ingredients, sensory requirements, physicochemical indicators, microorganism level, etc.) of beverage products. Please refer to the corresponding GB standards for more details:

Beverage products	Referenced GB standard
All beverage (excluding packaged drinking water)	GB 7101-2015 Beverages
Tea beverage	GB/T 21733-2008 Tea Beverages
Milk beverage	GB/T 21732-2008 Milk Beverages
Solid beverage	GB/T 29602-2013 Solid Beverages
Fruit & vegetable juice	GB/T 31121-2014 Fruit & Vegetable Juices and Fruit & Vegetable Beverage (Nectars)
Packaged drinking water	GB 19298-2014 Packaged Drinking Water
*This table lists part of GB standards of beverage products. Please contact ChemLinked if you need further information.

3.2 Label

The labeling of dairy products should follow the general rules such as GB 7718-2011 General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods, GB 28050-2011 General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods and other relevant regulations. Moreover, the additional requirement for imported beverage products is the mandatory labeling of registration No. of overseas manufacturers.

It is noteworthy that beverage products are subject to some additional labeling requirements, as specified in their product standards. The below is a summary of some special requirements:

Beverage products	Additional labeling requirements
Tea beverage	Fruit juice content should be labeled for fruit juice tea beverage Protein content should be labeled for milk tea beverage Dilution factor should be labeled for concentrated tea beverage “Low sugar” “no sugar”, and “low caffeine based on the composition” can be indicated for tea beverages.
Milk beverage	The product type shall be indicated on the labels for fermented milk beverage and lactobacillus beverage: unsterilized (viable bacteria) type or sterilized (inviable bacteria) type. Fermented milk beverage and lactobacillus beverage of unsterilized (viable bacteria) type shall be labeled with the viable count of lactobacillus and the temperature for product transportation and storage.
Solid beverage	The dissolving or brewing method of the product shall be labeled. For powdered fruit/vegetable juice beverages, the content of fruit juices and (or) vegetable juices shall be labeled. For mixed products, the proportion of different fruit juices and (or) vegetable juices shall be labeled. For powdered mixed protein beverages, the proportion of proteins from different sources shall be labeled. For powdered tea beverages with fruit juices, the content of fruit juices shall be labeled.
Fruit & vegetable juice	The word “sugared” shall be clearly indicated if sugar is added in fruit & vegetable juice (puree) products Total content of (original) vegetable juice (puree) shall be clearly indicated for fruit & vegetable juice (puree) beverage products. Only products meeting the requirements for “claiming 100%” can be indicated with “100%” at any place on the label. Otherwise, the products can only be indicated with “Content of fruit & vegetable juice: 100%” at a place adjacent to the “Nutrition Information”. For products added with fibers, sacs, fruit granules and vegetable granules, etc., the total content of (original) fruit & vegetable juice (puree) contained and the substances added therein shall be indicated in a combined manner, followed by the content added in bracket.
Packaged drinking water	If any food additive is added to packaged drinking water, similar expressions such as “food additives are added for adjusting the flavor” shall be labeled nearby the product name. The name of packaged drinking water shall be true and scientific. It is not allowed to use one or several ingredients other than water to name the packaged drinking water.
*This table lists part of GB standards of beverage products. Please contact ChemLinked if you need further information.

* Global Food Compliance Service

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Covered Countries

China, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, United States, European Union, Australia, New Zealand etc.

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