China Customs Rejected 353 Batches of Imported Foods in June 2022 Including Dairy and Health Supplements

On July 22, 2022, General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) published the list of non-compliant food products in June of 2022. A total of 353 batches of imported food from 36 countries/regions were rejected.

Most non-compliant imported food in June came from Vietnam (30%, mostly aquatic products), followed by UK (18%, all sports nutrition products) and Taiwan, China (14%, mostly alcohol & beverage). The major reasons for the import rejection were:

Unqualified labeling (39%)
Lack of inspection & quarantine permit (34%)
Exceeding the use of food additives/nutritional fortification substances (33%)
Discrepancy between cargo and certificate (15%)
Lack of required documents or evidential materials (11%)

Noteworthy Points

Six batches of dairy products were rejected in June, including a batch of cheese from Italy, a batch of milk powder from New Zealand, a batch of cream from France, a batch of whole milk from Poland, and two batches of flavored yogurt from Australia. Among them, three batches failed for unqualified labeling, while the rest were rejected for unqualified packaging.
Eight batches of health supplements failed customs clearance, including a batch of fruits and vegetables integrated enzyme powder from Taiwan, two batches of yeast capsule from Japan, a batch of Q10 dietary supplements and a batch of NMN products from US, and three batches of functional tea products from Germany. Most of them failed for lacking required documents or evidential materials.
Ferrero's chocolate products, Coca Cola's beverage, Fonterra's milk powder and Unilever's macaroni were involved in the rejection list. Even these international giants are likely to suffer the pitfalls, therefore, stakeholders should be more aware of the compliance for exporting food to China.

More analysis on customs clearance in 2022 can be found below: