The General Administration of Customs of China Requires Finnish Food Producers Exporting to China to Register Before 1.11.2021
In addition to the 4 categories of high-risk products of animal origin (meat, fish, dairy, edible birds’ nests), China's rigorous market access health risk assessment process has been extended to 14 food categories.
The General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) will carry out registration of the manufacturing plants based on a prelisting, ie on the recommendation of the competent authority, for the following product categories, if there has been trade between 1.1.2017 and now:
1. Casings and stomachs
2. bee products,
3. eggs and egg products,
4. fats and oils intended for human consumption,
5. stuffed products with wheat shells such as dumplings and pies;
6. cereals (and potatoes);
7. mill products and malt,
8. fresh and dried vegetables and dried beans,
9. raw coffee and cocoa beans,
10. spices,
11. nuts and seeds,
12. dried fruit and berries,
13. special dietary products, such as baby food,
14. food supplements and functional foods.
If your company has exported any of these products to China, please contact the Finnish Food Authority [email protected] by 10.10.2021 at the latest.
In the case of Finland, the General Administration of Customs has unilaterally specified that it will accept applications on the basis of past trade in only two categories: 5. stuffed products with wheat shell like dumplings and pies 14. food supplements / functional foods. Stuffed products include Karelian pies, meat pies, dumplings and stuffed pastries. Functional foods are foods with a health claim and dietary supplements.
For other products on this list, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry may prepare an appeal (TBC) to the General Administration of Customs and apply for registrations to all establishments that have been manufacturing and exporting products in the above categories.
A list of companies manufacturing these products must be submitted by the end of October, or else the risk assessment and market access process will be carried out by GACC in full. The timetable is very tight, as the Finnish Food Authority does not currently have a complete list of manufacturers of these low-risk products.
If the establishments do not register, the export of these products from Finland will be prohibited in the future, unless a market access process is carried out. These processes typically last from 2-10 years. The export rights of manufacturers of these 18 types of products will be entered in into the GACC registration system and registration information is required to be supplemented or changed by the competent authority of the country of origin until 30 June 2023.
For products other than the 18 categories above, such as alcoholic beverages, the manufacturer and exporter can register themselves via the www.singlewindow.cn(Linkki toiselle web-sivustolle.) system. Registration will be required at Chinese Customs as of November 1, 2021.