China Infant Formula Sector: Import and Registration Performance in H1 2020

Both the import volume and value of infant formula maintained a stable performance from Jan to May this year compared to the corresponding period in 2019. The IF import value of New Zealand and Australia, from Jan to May 2020, increased by 13.7% and 15%, respectively, compared to that of last year. The status quo of Infant Formula Registration is also analyzed, by countries, by groups, by categories, etc., in this article.

Part 1: Import Performance of Infant Formula, Jan-May 2020

1.1 By import value and import volume

One of the concerns to overseas infant formula stakeholders this year is how much impact the sudden COVID-19 outbreak will cause on their trades with China. As revealed by the GAC data ^[1], it seems this pandemic didn’t affect the businesses too much. Both the import volume and value of infant formula maintained a stable performance from Jan to May this year compared to the corresponding period in 2019. In March 2020, some overseas enterprises also responded that their infant formula supply in China had not been affected yet since the COVID-2019 outbreak. View more here^[2].

1.2 By countries

Although the total IF import value of the top 11 exporting countries, from Jan to May 2020, is almost the same as last year, there are some great changes to some countries. For example,

The IF import value of New Zealand and Australia increased by 13.7% and 15%, respectively.
While the import value of Ireland, Denmark and Switzerland declined by 24.9%, 21% and 38.6% respectively compared to last year.

top-11-infant-formula-exporting-countries-to-china-by-import-value-jan-may-2019-2020-bn-dollars-2.png

Part 2: GAC Registration of Overseas Infant Formula Manufacturers, up to June 30, 2020

This year, GAC updated the manufacturer registration approval list ^[3]of four countries. They are Italy, France, Germany and the U.S.
Up until now, 109 overseas IF manufacturers from 21 countries have been granted the GAC registration approval. New Zealand and Australia are the top 2 countries with the most permissions, which accounts for 30% of the total number.

Part 3: Infant Formula Registration Approvals

3.1 Infant Formula Registration Approvals and Rejections in H1 2020

➢ Approvals

In the first half of 2020, thirty infant formula products were granted the recipe registration approvals. Both Firmus and H&H group obtained nine recipe approvals each.

Serial No.	Group	Production lines	Total approved recipes
1	Firmus	Three production line "淳芮, 妙舒欢, 星飞帆"	9
2	Biostime (H&H group)	Three production line "素加, 贝素贝加, 合生元沃蓝"	9
3	Wyeth (Nestle)	One production line “臻朗”	3
4	Savencia Fromage& Dairy	One production line “Modilac”	3
5	Junlebao	One production line “乐星”	3
6	Vitagermine	One production line “Babybio”	3

➢ Rejections

Twenty-four products were rejected by the competent authority [4], nine of which are imported IF recipes.

Notice	Applicants	Products
Jan. 22	Suvow Dairy	Three products of “Sujia (素嘉)”
Feb. 27	Hongqi Dairy	Three products
Mar. 9	ALTER FARMACIA, S.A.	One production line, three products
Mar. 9	Gittis	Two production lines, six products
Mar. 17	Mornring Nutrition Technology (Changsha) Co., Ltd. (a facility of Ausnutria)	Three production lines, nine products

3.2 Status Quo of Infant Formula Registration, up until June 30, 2020

Up until June 30, 2020, China has approves the recipe registration of 1,302 infant formula products. View more at our F-list ^[5].

➢ By countries

Almost one-fourth of the total approved recipes are imported IF products. New Zealand and the Netherlands are still the two giants with the most infant formula recipes.

➢ By groups

Beingmate, Mengniu and Synutra are the top 3 groups with the most registered IF recipes. The sudden increase of Synutra’s approved recipes mainly resulted from its ongoing process of acquisitions. View more analysis here ^[6].

➢ By categories

Goat milk powder occupies 21% of the total IF registrations. And most of these goat IF recipes are from domestic companies, except for six from foreign companies, i.e. Viplus Dairy and Triscom B.V..

Giant groups like Mengniu and Yili were granted the goat IF approvals of nine and three, respectively. And Ausnutria owns six approved goat IF products.

➢ Analysis of organic IF

Among all the 1,302 registered infant formula products, 63 of which are organic infant formula. And all of them are sourced from cow milk powder.

As listed below, Yeeper dairy, Ausnutria and Longwang own the most registered organic infant formula products. Overseas groups (Abbott, Nestle, Arla, etc.) only got 15 organic IF approvals.

Source: Special Food Information Query Platform ^[7]

Tips:

Before selling an organic infant formula product to China, it’s better to get the manufacturer registered first, then to obtain the organic certificate and finally to register the product recipe. For more compliance consultancy, please email [email protected].