China’s regulatory system for food safety and imported food and beverage (F&B) products has evolved rapidly in recent years. With the aim to manage more effectively the safety of imported food, and control the spreading of epidemic diseases, China has made improvements and increased its customs, inspection and quarantine requirements for imported F&B products.
The purpose of this guide is to provide an up-to-date overview of China’s regulations for pork imports. It does so from the perspective of laws, regulations and standards – focusing in particular on the impact of key regulations which came into effect on 1 January 2022, i.e. GACC Order 248 and Order 249. It then provides step-by-step guidance for EU SMEs to understand their eligibility to export pork products to China, to complete the necessary registration procedures with GACC, and to prepare compliant labels and the documentation required for customs clearance.
This report also provides an overview of the key challenges that EU pork exporters face in China, particularly in terms of: exposure to domestic pork prices which significantly affect the demand of pork imports; China’s different approach to “regionalisation” which often leads to temporary country-wide bans on pork imports from EU countries; and the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to longer customs clearance procedures and testing requirements. Still, the EU represents more than half of China’s pork imports and opportunities are attractive.
Market Overview
1.1. China’s production and consumption of pork
1.2. Pork imports in China
1.3. Major export countries
How to export pork products to China
2.1. Laws, regulations and standards
2.2. Country and product eligibility: Government protocol with China
2.3. Company eligibility: Registration of production establishments with GACC
2.4. Filing requirements of overseas food exporters
2.5. Packaging and labelling requirements
2.6. Documents preparation and import procedure
Distribution, opportunities and challenges
3.1. Distribution channels
3.2. Opportunities and challenges
