China Abolishes the Consular Legalization Procedure for Foreign Public Documents, Affecting Food Importation and Product Registration

As of November 7, 2023, China will greatly simplify the authentication on foreign documents. Foreign public documents can be used in China after the obtain of a “Apostille” certificate issued by the competent authority in overseas countries, instead of the application for the consular legalization service in overseas countries. Materials affected by the abolishment involve certain materials used during the product registration or filing, and materials used during the broad importation process, such as certificate of origin, etc.

As disclosed by the news¹ released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 23, China acceded the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents² (also known as the “Hague Convention” or “Apostille Convention”) on March 8, 2023. The Convention will come into effect in China on November 7, 2023.

Major Changes & Impact

During the transnational trade, when foreign public documents are required to be used in another country, to ensure the authenticity of needed documents, traditionally, such documents are subject to the costly and time-consuming legalization process. The requirements vary from country to country. But generally, the whole procedure often involves multiple steps and authorities.

As for the situation in China³, before the effectiveness of the Convention, overseas enterprises or individuals are required to first get the documents (issued by overseas countries) notarized and authenticated by local authorities, and then apply for the consular legalization from a Chinese embassy or consulate in that country. The whole procedure can be time-consuming with relatively high cost. However, from November 7, 2023, the above requirements will be abolished for public documents from contracting countries of the Convention. An Apostille certificate* issued by that contracting country will be enough.

*Notes: An Apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document (e.g., a birth, marriage or death certificate, a judgment, etc.). Apostilles do not look exactly the same but they should conform as closely as possible to the Model Certificate as below. Notably, Apostilles can only be issued for documents issued in one country party to the Apostille Convention and that are to be used in another country which is also a party to the Convention. Read more here⁴.
Model of an Apostille as annexed to the Convention

Affected documents that enterprises may encounter during the exportation of foods to China include certain materials used:

during the product registration or filing, such as the registration of import certificate for feed, the filing of health food product, etc.
during the broad importation process, such as power of attorney, certificate of origin, etc.

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