On January 24, 2024, General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) published the list of non-compliant food products in December 2023. A total of 234 batches of imported food from 29 countries/regions were rejected.
Most non-compliant imported food in December came from Japan (26.1%, mostly ice cream), followed by South Korea (15.4%, mostly instant noodles) and Thailand (14.1%, mostly cookies). The major reasons for import rejections were as follows:
Unqualified labeling (42.7%)
Lack of inspection & quarantine permit (21.4%)
Discrepancy between cargo and certificate (9.8%)
Excessive use of food additives/nutritional fortification substances (8.1%)
Lack of required documents or evidential materials (5.6%)
Noteworthy Products
1. Infant formula
One batch of stage 2 infant formula milk powder from South Korea faced customs clearance issues due to non-compliant iron content. According to GB 10766-2021 Older Infant Formula, milk-based products must have iron contents ranging from 0.24mg/100kj to 0.48 mg/100kj. For bean-based products, the acceptable range is from 0.36mg/100kj to 0.48 mg/100kj.
Notably, in the previous month, another batch of stage 2 infant formula milk powder from the same brand was also rejected for the same reason. Enterprises should pay attention to the issues revealed by the rejected food list and take timely measures to adjust their products so as to avoid the custom rejections.
2. Dairy products
Two batches of flavored yogurt from Spain were rejected for unqualified protein and fat contents. As per GB 19302-2010 Fermented Milk, the fat content of flavored yogurt products must be at least 2.5g/100g, and the protein content must be at least 2.3g/100g.
3. Plant-based milk
One batch of plant-based milk from Taiwan, China failed custom clearance for lacking of required documents or evidential materials. It should be noted that currently, China hasn’t released any mandatory product standard for plant-based milk. The import of plant-based milk will be supervised as common beverages.
For an overall analysis of food rejections from January to November of 2023, please refer to A Look Back at 2023: Food Regulatory Updates in China.
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