How Food Products Export to China

In order to ensure the quality and safety of imported food products and to regulate the administration of such products, china has implemented a multi-tiered supervision system with regard to imported food products.

Imported food products include: food, food additives, food containers, packaging materials, food utensils and equipment to be imported, or food generally known as "imported food products".

The relevant laws an regulations include: Food Safety Law of the PRC , Import and Export Animal and Plant Quarantine Law, Import and Export Commodity Inspection Law, Administration of Registration of Foreign Production Enterprises of Imported Food, Imported food importers and exporters filing regulations, Measures for the Administration of Health Food, Measures for the administration of import and export food labels, etc.

First of all , If the Foreign food Manufacturer’s products are first time import to china, there are many pre-approval procedure must be conducted first, this step is often overlooked, causing a lot of problems.

If you do not have such pre-approval registration/filing numbers, licenses or certificates issued by china relevant authorities , even these products already in the china port, they are not allowed to enter the country and will be returned to the consignor.

And these pre-approval process usually need several weeks, months, even years to Complete, your products are impossible stay in the customs supervision warehouse for so long.

If have a bad record in customs & CIQ system, will have more negative influent on the future of imports.

I: These Preparation before Initial Import mainly include:

1. AQSIQ filing: All Foreign Food facility and exporter/agent need AQSIQ Filing, and need appoint a china local company as its china representative agent (CRA)/ or trade partner. After the AQSIQ filing process, each of Foreign Food Facility/Exporter/Agent will get a filing number, and the list of exporters /agents which have completed filing will be published on the AQSIQ website. In each import process, need fill this filing number in customs declaration and CIQ inspection application forms.

2. CNCA registration: all Meat, Aquatic, Dairy Products Foreign Food manufacturing enterprise need apply CNCA registration. Such Food products of foreign production enterprises not registered are banned from importation.

3. CFDA registration: For functional heath food, nutritional supplements, Foods for special medical purpose , need apply CFDA registration, such products without CFDA certificate are banned from importation.

4. MOA certification: For GMO-(Genetically modified organisms) food, need apply MOA GMO products safety certification and labing, For animal feed product (Such as Dog,Cat,Pet foods), need apply imported feed register, such products without CFDA certificate and labing are banned from importation.

5. Pre-packaged foods Chinese Label CIQ approval: Imported pre-packaged foods must come with Chinese labelling, the content of which should comply with the China National Standards(GB7718-2004, GB10344-2005, GB13432-2004 etc.) and regulations about relevant products Labling, only after pass the CIQ inspection, get the chinese label filing number, then can be Affixed on the packaging of foods

6. Imported Food Products initial testing: the product quality of imported foods must comply with the China food safety National Standards and relevant Sanitary & quality regulations, so the Food Products initial testing is necessary, usually all china distributors, supermarkets, food shops, etc, need keep such imported food testing report, backup for the CFDA market supervision.

And, if you not conduct such initial testing in advance, when the china port CIQ find out that your products are not complied with the China food safety regulations in the Food Sanitary inspection process, then all products will be returned to consignor or destroyed. You will occur big loss.

II. The follow are the Foreign Food Imported to China main Procedure & Quotation:

Step 1. Foreign Food facility and exporter registration/Filing:

NO.	ITEM	Cost (USD)	TIME	VALID	NOTE
1	Entrust a China Responsibility Agent（CRA）	Inquire us	1-3 weeks	1 to N years	Need letter of authorization
2	Foreign Food manufacturing enterprise CNCA registration (Meat, Aquatic, Dairy Food only)	Inquire us	4-12 months	4 years	Need GMP or HACCP certification, some need on-site audit
3	Foreign Food Facility/Exporter & China Importer/ Consignee AQSIQ filing	Inquire us	1-3 weeks	1 years	Annual service fee:$500 (next year)

Step 2. Imported Food Initial Test and CFDA registration:

1. For normal Imported Food Initial Test:

Category	Represent varieties	The main test items	Time	Cost (USD)
Instant food	Biscuits, puffed food , solid drink powder, instant coffee, Candy, chocolate,, etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators , Banned additives, etc.	1-2 Months	Inquire us
Natural food	Coffee, tea, mate, Nuts, spices, egg, Honey, etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators, veterinary drug residues, antibiotic residues, pesticide residues, etc.	1-2 Months	Inquire us
Canned food	Canned fish, canned meat, Canned fruits, tomato sauce, canned beans, etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators, , Banned additives, water activity, commercial sterility, veterinary drug residues, pesticide residues, etc.	1-2 Months	inquire us
Pickled food	Pickles, sauces, spices, Preserves, etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators, Banned additives, water activity, commercially sterile, pesticide residues, harmful derivatives (such as nitrite) etc.	1-2 Months	inquire us
Soft drinks	Juice, cola, Liquid tea, Liquid coffee, soda, etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators, pesticide residues, Banned additives, commercial sterility; etc.	1-2 Months	inquire us
Low Alcoholic Drink	Wine, beer, sake, etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators, Banned additives, ingredients of alcohols, aldehydes, esters,; etc.	1-2 Months	inquire us
Highly Alcohol	Whiskey, brandy, vodka etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators , Banned additives, ingredients of alcohols, aldehydes, esters; etc.	1-2 Months	inquire us
Milk powder	Infant formula, Milk powder, Protein powder, Whey protein, etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators, Banned additives, Nutrition ingredients; (about 50-100 items) etc.	2-3 Months	inquire us
Dairy Food	Liquid milk, yogurt, cheese, butter,etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators , Banned additives, commercial sterility etc.	1-2 Months	inquire us
Cooked/Cured meat food	Sausages, Bacon, Ham, dried/salted/smoked meat, Sauced/Braised meat, Grilled meat,etc.	Heavy metals, microbial, physical and chemical indicators , Banned additives, Moisture, commercially sterile, Veterinary drug residues, antibiotic residues ,pesticide residues, Peroxide Value, harmful derivatives (such as nitrite),etc	1-2 Months	inquire us

Note: the above are only the Common food categories, if your products are not in them, enquire us for detail offer.

2. Health food, nutritional supplements, Foods for special medical purpose CFDA registration:

NO.	ITEM	Cost (USD)	TIME	VALID	NOTE
1	Functional Health foods	inquire us	2-4 years	5 years	27 function claims
2	Nutritional supplements	inquire us	1-2 years	5 years	Vitamins, Minerals
3	Foods for special medical purpose	inquire us	1-3 years	5 years	Some need clinical trial

3. Other Special imported food products pre-approval service

No.	Service Items	Cost (USD)	TIME	VALID	Note
1	Apply Bulk agricultural products MOFCOM import license	Inquire us	1-2 month	1 year	Some bulk products & Tariff Quota goods need
2	Apply MOA GMO food products safety certification	Inquire us	3-5 months	5 years	Products from MOA approved GMO material
3	Apply MOA GMO food products labeling approval	Inquire us	2-3 months	5 years	GMO-Genetically modified organisms
4	Apply MOA imported animal feed register	Inquire us	6-9 months	5 years	Such as Pet (dog,cat,etc.) foods

Step 3. Prepackaged Food Chinese Label Approval and filing :

NO.	ITEM	Cost (USD)	TIME	VALID	NOTE
1	Prepackaged Food Chinese Label CIQ approval and filing	Inquire us	2 -4 weeks	2 years	Per additional label, add $800
2	Chinese Label translation, design and pre-review	Inquire us	1-4 weeks	/	If need

Step 4. CIQ Food Sanitary inspection & Customs Clearance:

(This step usually is the Domestic importer’s duty, not the Foreign Food Exporter liability, but if need us do such job as customs broker, the follow are our service items and fee )

NO.	ITEM	Cost (USD)	TIME	VALID	NOTE
1	Domestic Food Importer CIQ filing	Ask us for	4-8 weeks	1 years	Compulsory by CIQ
2	Domestic Meat Food Importer CIQ Registration	Ask us for	3-6 months	1 years	Compulsory by CIQ
3	Apply for Food business License	Ask us for	3-6 months	1 years	Compulsory by CFDA
4	Apply for entry animals and plants quarantine license	Ask us for	1-4 weeks	once	Raw food need
5	CIQ inspection, quarantine and Food Sanitary inspection	Ask us for	2-4 weeks	once	Depend on each import Lot
6	Customs declaration & clearance	Ask us for	1-2 weeks	once	Depend on each import Lot
The government official charge as According to the actual charge, depend on the types of goods, quantity, and value, include : 1、 TARIFF: Customs Duty, VAT, Consumption Tax, etc. 2、 DOCK COST: THC/ORC, delivery charge, storage charge, security charge, etc.

Abbreviation of Supervisory department：

l CIQ-China Entry-exit Inspection & Quarantine Bureau

l CFDA-China Food and Drug Administration

l CNCA-Certification & Accreditation Administration of China

l MOA-Ministry of Agriculture

l MOFCOM-Ministry of Commerce

l AQSIQ-Administration of Quality Supervision,Inspection and Quarantine

III. For Foreign Food manufacturing enterprise CNCA registration, CFDA registration, CIQ filing, CIQ commodity inspection & quarantine, Customs declaration and inspection procedure, the follow documents should be collected and submitted to the relative administration department:

1. Relevant Register/Filing Application form

2. Entry goods customs declaration form

3. Entry goods CIQ inspection form.

4. Authorization letter (for CFDA registration ,CIQ Inspection, Customs declaration, etc.)

5. Foreign Food Facility/Exporter and China Importer/ Consignee CIQ register/filing number.

6. China Importer/Consignee Food business license or Function health Food business license.

7. FSC-Free Sale Certificate

8. Product quality test report (issued by china relevant official Lab.)

9. Original and Chinese packaging label sample, and CIQ approval filing number.

10. Food raw materials and ingredients list

11. Food package/contact materials quality specifications.

12. Relevant Quality Warranty letter

13. Official Qualification management certification for Food manufacturing enterprise (Food GMP or HACCP, etc.), and relevant official authority on-site audit reports (Meat, Aquatic, Dairy Food only).

14. Product quality control standards

15. Pre-approved License Documents (Such as Import license, CFDA certificate, CNCA registration license, MOA Transgenic food license, etc.)

16. Contract

17. Commercial invoice

18. Bill of landing

19. Deliver order

20. Packing list

21. Insurance poliy

22. Certificate of origin

23. GSP certificate of origin

24. Sanitary/Health certificate

25. Veterinary certificate

26. Animal/plant quarantine certificate

Etc……………….