On April 21, 2022, General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) published the list of non-compliant food products in March of 2022. A total of 223 batches of imported food from 34 countries/regions were rejected.
Most non-compliant imported food in March came from Portugal (11%, all meat products), followed by Taiwan, China and the U.S. (both occupied 9%) The major reasons for the import rejection were:
Discrepancy between cargo and certificate (18%)
Lack of required documents or evidential materials (17%)
Incompliance with GB standards (11%)
Unqualified labeling (9%)
Lack of inspection & quarantine permit (8%)
Noteworthy Products
1. Dairy
Five batches of dairy products failed customs clearance in March, including one yogurt powder, two camel milk powders and two adult milk powders. The details are as follows：
Product | Country of origin | Reason for rejection | Notes/suggestions |
Yogurt powder | the U.S. | The protein content failed to meet national standards. | The protein content shall meet the requirements stated in GB 19302-2010 Fermented Milk, which is, at least 2.9g per 100g of yogurt. |
Camel milk powder | Australia | Lack of inspection & quarantine permit | For raw milk and its products, as well as pasteurized milk, an inspection & quarantine permit is required before import. |
Camel milk powder | Australia | Lack of inspection & quarantine permit | For raw milk and its products, as well as pasteurized milk, an inspection & quarantine permit is required before import. |
Adult milk powder | New Zealand | Exceeding shelf life | Exporters and importers need to ensure the shelf life is long enough to provide fresh products for consumers, or at least it should cover the whole import procedure. |
Adult milk powder | New Zealand | Excessive use of Vitamin D, Vitamin C, calcium and zinc as nutritional fortifiers | The use requirements for nutritional fortifiers are specified in GB 14880-2012 Standard for the Use of Nutritional Fortification Substances in Foods |
2. Health supplements
A total of 17 batches of health supplements were rejected in March. Among them, two were from Taiwan, China. Both failed for unqualified labeling. Relevant requirements are specified in section 3.5 Product Labeling of China Health Food Regulation for health food labeling. The rest batches were all from the US, and were rejected mainly for the substandard content of Sorbitol. The use requirements for Sobital are specified in GB 2760-2014 Standard for Uses of Food Additives, and you can also search Sorbitol in China Food Additives Database for more information. Also, ChemLinked’s Combox, a China food compliance intelligent system can provide professional support on issues like this.
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