China Customs Rejected 156 Batches of Imported Food in December 2022

On January 16, 2023, General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) published the list of non-compliant food products in December of 2022. A total of 156 batches of imported food from 27 countries/regions were rejected.

Most non-compliant imported food in December 2022 came from Vietnam (25%, mostly beverages), followed by the U.S. (13.5%, mostly meat and beverages) and Japan (9.6%, mostly snacks). The major reasons for import rejection were:

Unqualified labeling (37.2%)
Lack of required documents or evidential materials (34.6%)
Heavy metal contamination (8.3%)
Discrepancy between cargo and certificate (7.7%)
Microorganism contamination (6.4%)

Noteworthy Products

1. Dairy products

One batch of cheese products from France were rejected due to excessive level of E. coli contamination. It is noteworthy that from December 30, 2022, the product requirements for cheese shall be subject to the updated GB 25192-2022 Processed Cheese and Cheese Products. Compared with the previous standard, the updated version details the classification of cheese products, adjusts the microorganism limit and further specifies the labeling requirements.

2. Wine & beverage

Wine and beverage topped the list of rejected imported food in December 2022, accounting for 34%. It's worth noting that over 90% of these rejected wine and beverage products failed customs clearance for unqualified labeling. Please check China Beverage Regulation and China Alcoholic Drink Regulation for the labeling requirements for beverage and wine products respectively.

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