On July 28, 2023, General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) published the list of non-compliant food products in June of 2023. A total of 226 batches of imported food from 33 countries/regions were rejected.
Most non-compliant imported food in June came from Japan (22.1%, mostly snacks and beverages), followed by Taiwan, China (11.5%, mostly processed fruit products) and the U.S. (7.1%, mostly health supplements). The major reasons for import rejection were:
Lack of required documents or evidential materials (23.5%)
Discrepancy between cargo and certificate (16.9%)
Unqualified labeling (16.4%)
Lack of inspection & quarantine permit (13.8%)
Exceeding the use of food additives/nutritional fortification substances (8.4%)
Noteworthy Products
1. Dairy products
Three batches of dairy products were rejected by the customs in June. Among them, two batches of whole milk powder from New Zealand failed custom inspection for excessive use of Vitamin A as a nutritional fortifier, and one batch of skim milk concentrate from the U.S. failed for lacking required documents or evidential materials. For the use of nutritional fortifiers in dairy products, please refer to GB 14880-2012 Standard for the Use of Nutritional Fortification Substances in Foods. For dairy import requirements and other related information, please refer to China Dairy Regulations.
2. Confectionary
14 batches of confectionary products failed customs clearance. Except one batch of milk sugar from Australia, the rest all came from Japan. Notably, many other categories of Japanese foods were rejected by China customs. Besides, recent news reported that a number of Japanese food & beverage products suffered clearance delay at the Chinese ports. The industry believes that this is due to the tighter scrutiny during customs clearance as China's response to Japan's decision to release radioactive Fukushima wastewater into the ocean.
Earlier in July, the Chinese Customs stated that it would continue to prohibit the import of food from ten counties (cities) including Fukushima and strictly review the supporting documents attached to food from other regions of Japan, especially aquatic products. With many foods other than aquatic products suffering clearance delay, the industry believes that this is either due to China's expansion of the comprehensive inspection scope beyond aquatic products or the increased business volume and delayed work progress led by the comprehensive inspections on aquatic products.
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