China CNCA Suspends Australian Dairy Manufacturer Viplus Dairy

Take home:

• CNCA has temporarily revoked the accreditation of Australian dairy company Viplus Dairy.
• CFDA and provincial FDAs have increased the monthly inspection sampling quantity from 200 batches to 500 batches.

China CNCA updated the list of approved overseas infant formula manufacturers and dairy manufacturers on 4 November. On November 4^th Australian dairy manufacturer Viplus Dairy  had their CNCA accreditation suspended, which means their dairy products including infant formula cannot be exported to China until the problem is fixed and re-accreditation granted by CNCA.

Products that will be influenced include:

• infant formula
• pasteurized milk;
• modified milk
• fermented milk;
• flavored fermented milk;
• butter
• cream;
• other milkfat;
• other milk and milk products.

The exact reason for the suspension has not been specified yet, but it is interesting to note that the stringency of infant formula inspection has increased since 2016. There are national inspections, provincial inspections and spot inspections on infant formulas. In addition, CFDA and provincial FDAs have increased the monthly inspection sampling quantity from 200 batches to 500 batches, to cover all infant formulas circulating in the market. The revised draft of Implementation Rules of Food Safety Law (see CL expert article on 9 Nov.) was released on 19^th October and further requires that CIQs conduct full-inspection on every batch of imported infant formula.