China Inspection and Quarantine: Importation of South African Apples Approved

On Jan. 21, 2015, AQSIQ announced that apples conforming to the Requirements of Plant Inspection and Quarantine of Apples Imported from South Africa are allowed to be imported to China after a field investigation and pest risk analysis of apples is conducted by Chinese experts.

Legal basis:

• Law of the People's Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine and its implementation rules

• Food Safety Law and its implementation rules

• Measures for the Administration of Inspection, Quarantine, and Supervision on the Fruit Entering China;

• Protocol on Requirements of Plant Inspection and Quarantine for  South African Apple Entry into China signed between AQSIQ and Department of Agriculture, Forest & Fisheries of South Africa (DAFF)

Approved orchards and packing plants:

Approved orchards and package plants for exporting apples to China must be registered with DAFF and approved by the two countries. The name list should be provided by the authority of South Africa before the apple export season every year.

Concerned quarantine pests:

• Ceratitis capitata (Weidemann)

• Ceratitis rosa (Karsch)

• Cryptophlebia leucotreta

• Cydia pomonella (L.)

• Diaspidiotus africanus (Marlatt)

• Epichoristodes acerbella Walk.

• Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausm.)

• Pseudococcus longispinus

• Brevipalpus californicus (Banks)

Requirements before shipment:

1. Management of orchards

All orchards producing apples for the Chinese markets should be certified by Global GAP, and implement integrated pest management (IPM) effectively. Pest control procedures and results as well as IPM plan will be provided to AQSIQ as required.

2. Packing requirements

The packaged apples should be warehoused immediately if required and stored independently to avoid contamination by hazardous pests. Each box shall be indicated with information such as the name, place of origin, orchard and packing plant in English. Each pallet or box should be indicated with “export to the People’s Republic of China” in Chinese.

3. Inspection and quarantine before exports

Sampling will be conducted on 2% of the total number of boxes to be exported. The number of samples should not be less than 1,200, and at least 40 fruits should be split for examination.

Cold processing will be conducted for ceratitis capitata (weidemann) and ceratitis rosa (karsch) before and during the transportation. If any quarantine hazardous pests concerned by China are detected, apples from relevant orchards will not be allowed to be exported to China.

4. Requirements on the plant quarantine certificate

Plant quarantine certificate will be issued by DAFF once it passes the quarantine and will be affixed with the label “the batch of apples conforms to Protocol on Requirements of Plant Inspection and Quarantine for the South African Apple Entry into China, and was found free of quarantine pest concerned by China”. It should be marked on the plant quarantine certificate with the producing unit code, packing plant code and container code.

Requirements for entry into China

Apples from South Africa must enter into China through designated ports. It should be verified that the License for Quarantine of Entry Animals and Plants is attached to the batch of apples.