Confirmation of China Infant Formula CBEC Trade Requirements

Takehome:

• It was introduced during REACH24H’s China regulatory annual conference (CRAC) that the regulatory requirements for trade of infant formula through CBEC and general trade will be aligned. Products traded through both channels will be subject to the same requirements.

The Chinese government has placed great emphasis on ensuring the safety of infant formula due to the frequent occurrence of food safety issues and poor market conditions. The “Administrative Measures for Registration of Infant and Young Children Milk Powder Formula Recipes” will be put into practice from Oct. 1, 2016 and is designed to raise the market entry threshold for infant formula, eliminate inferior brands with low product quality and increase the confidence of consumers in China’s infant formula food safety status.

Requirements for infant formula traded through CBEC

Cross border e-commerce (CBEC) is a new trade model developed in China in recent years, and infant formula is hugely important product traded through CBEC. Currently, the biggest problem for infant formula traded through CBEC is that there are too many counterfeit products. CBEC trade of infant formula must comply with the following criteria:

• Infant formula manufacturer should be registered with CNCA

• Infant formula recipes should be registered with CFDA

• Chinese label should be attached

• Without too much advertising

During the summit, Mr. Song Liang, former senior dairy industry researcher from the Ministry of Commerce, indicated that although it is stipulated in the regulation that both domestic and overseas infant formula manufacturers can only market “3 product lines” (3 stages per product line) in China (see CL news report on Jun. 8, 2016), not all manufacturers will produce these 3 product lines, especially overseas infant formula manufacturers.