On March 17, 2022, General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) published the list of non-compliant food products in February of 2022. A total of 127 batches of imported food from 27 countries/regions were rejected.
Most non-compliant imported food in February came from Japan (13%, mostly snacks), followed by New Zealand (9%, mostly aquatic products), South Korea and Taiwan, China (both occupied 8%). The major reasons for the import rejection were:
Discrepancy between cargo and certificate (24%)
Unqualified labeling (12%)
Exceeding the use of food additives/nutritional fortification substances (10%)
Lack of inspection & quarantine permit (9%)
Heavy metal contamination (9%)
Noteworthy Products
1. Dairy
Two dairy products failed customs clearance in February. One batch of milk powder from New Zealand are rejected for exceeding their shelf life. One batch of dried cheese from Italy failed for excessive coliform group. For imported cheese, they shall conform to GB 5420-2021 Cheese, which specifies the microorganism limits shown in the table below.
Items | Sampling Plana and Limits | Test method | |||
n | c | m | M | ||
Coliforms/(CFU/g) | 5 | 2 | 102 | 103 | |
a The sampling and treatment of sample shall be conducted according to GB 4789.1 and GB 4789.18. |
2. Probiotic Drinks
Two batches of lactobacillus beverages from Hong Kong, China were rejected by the customs due to unqualified labeling. For imported beverages, in addition to the labeling requirements stated in GB 7718 and GB 28050 for common prepackaged foods, they shall also obey the rules stated in GB 7101-2015 Beverages. For lactobacillus beverages, as per GB 7101-2015, active bacterial (not sterilized) or inactive bacterial (sterilized) should be indicated on the labels. For products labeled with active bacterial (not sterilized), the lactobacillus count should be ≥106 CFU/g (mL). Furthermore, for products with active bacterial (not sterilized), the storage and transportation conditions should be indicated on the labels.