Importing food products into China is one of the most heavily regulated cross-border business activities a foreign company can undertake. The food safety regulatory framework in China is strict, the labeling requirements are detailed, and the logistics chain — from the foreign factory to the Chinese consumer — is subject to inspection and quarantine at multiple points. A foreign food company that doesn’t understand the regulatory pathway before the first shipment leaves the factory is going to lose product, lose money, and potentially lose access to the China market.
Here’s what the regulatory framework requires and how to get food products into China legally.
The Regulatory Authorities
Food imported into China is regulated by the General Administration of Customs of China — the GACC — which is responsible for the inspection and the quarantine of imported food at the border, and by the State Administration for Market Regulation — the SAMR — which is responsible for the food safety regulation of food that’s on the Chinese market after importation.
The GACC’s role is to inspect the imported food at the port of entry to confirm that it meets the Chinese food safety standards and that it’s properly labeled. The GACC can detain, return, or destroy food that fails the inspection, and the importer bears the cost of the detention, the return, or the destruction.
The SAMR’s role is to regulate the food on the market — the food that’s been imported and that’s being sold to Chinese consumers. The SAMR conducts market surveillance — sampling and testing food products on the market — and can order the recall of food that’s found to be non-compliant.
The China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment — the CFSA — is responsible for the scientific assessment of food safety risks and for the development of the food safety standards that the imported food must meet. The CFSA’s standards are the reference point for the GACC’s import inspection and for the SAMR’s market surveillance.
The Importer of Record
Food cannot be imported into China by a foreign company that doesn’t have a Chinese legal entity. The importer of record — the company that’s responsible for the import declaration, the customs clearance, and the food safety compliance — must be a Chinese company that’s registered with the GACC as a food importer.
A foreign food company that establishes a WFOE in China can be its own importer of record. The WFOE registers with the GACC as a food importer, and the registration requires the business license, the food distribution permit — if the WFOE will sell the food to Chinese customers — and the registration of the foreign food manufacturing facility with the GACC.
The foreign food manufacturing facility — the factory that produces the food — must be registered with the GACC before the food can be imported. The registration requires the foreign manufacturer to submit information about the facility — the name, the address, the products, the production processes, the food safety management system — to the GACC, and the GACC reviews the information and registers the facility. Products from unregistered facilities cannot be imported.
The registration of the foreign manufacturing facility is product-specific. A facility that produces dairy products, meat products, aquatic products, and certain other high-risk food categories must be registered under the specific registration scheme for that product category. A facility that produces low-risk food products — baked goods, confectionery, beverages — may be registered under a simplified registration scheme.
The Product Standards
Imported food must meet the Chinese food safety standards, which are established by the National Health Commission and the SAMR. The Chinese standards cover the product composition — what the product can contain — the contaminant limits — the maximum levels of heavy metals, pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, and other contaminants — the food additive usage — which additives can be used and at what levels — and the microbiological limits — the maximum levels of bacteria, molds, and other microorganisms.
A foreign food product that meets the standards of the European Union, the United States, or another developed market may not meet the Chinese standards because the Chinese standards are different — not necessarily stricter or looser, but different. A product that contains a food additive that’s permitted in the European Union but not in China cannot be imported, even if the additive is safe by the European standards. The Chinese standards are the only standards that matter for the China market.
The product testing is required as part of the import inspection. The GACC takes samples of the imported food and tests them for compliance with the Chinese standards. The testing can be at the port of entry — the port random testing — or at a designated testing laboratory. The testing covers the product composition, the contaminant levels, the additive usage, and the microbiological limits, and the testing results determine whether the product is accepted or rejected.
The Chinese Label
Every food product imported into China must have a Chinese-language label that complies with the Chinese food labeling standards. The label must include the product name, the ingredient list — in descending order of quantity — the net content, the production date and the shelf life, the storage conditions, the name and the address of the manufacturer, the name and the address of the Chinese importer or the distributor, the country of origin, and the food production license number — if the product requires a production license in China.
The Chinese label must be affixed to the product before the product is imported — the label can’t be applied after the product has cleared Chinese customs. The label can be a sticker applied over the original label, or it can be printed as part of the packaging. The label must be in Chinese — an English-only label is not compliant, even if the product is an imported product.
The label review is part of the import inspection. The GACC officers review the label for compliance with the Chinese labeling standards, and a product with a non-compliant label is detained and must be relabeled before it can be released. The relabeling cost — the labor, the materials, the storage — is borne by the importer, and the relabeling delay can affect the product’s shelf life.
The Logistics Chain
The logistics chain for imported food starts at the foreign factory — the product is manufactured, packaged, and labeled — and continues through the international transportation — the ocean freight, the air freight — to the Chinese port of entry. At the port, the product is held in a bonded warehouse until the import inspection is completed and the product is released.
The import inspection process can take days to weeks depending on the product category, the port of entry, and whether the product is selected for random testing. During the inspection period, the product is held in the bonded warehouse, and the importer pays the warehouse storage fee. A product that’s selected for random testing — the GACC samples the product and sends it to a testing laboratory — is held until the testing results are available, which can take one to two weeks.
After the product is released by the GACC, it can be transported to the importer’s warehouse in China and from there distributed to the wholesalers, the retailers, or directly to the consumers through e-commerce. The Chinese cold chain logistics — the temperature-controlled transportation and storage for chilled and frozen food — is well-developed in the major cities, and the cold chain quality is comparable to the developed market standards.
The documentation for each shipment includes the import declaration form, the commercial invoice, the packing list, the bill of lading or the air waybill, the certificate of origin, the health certificate or the sanitary certificate from the exporting country’s competent authority, and the product testing report — if the product was tested before shipment. The documentation must be complete and accurate — a missing document or an inconsistency between the documents delays the import clearance.
The E-Commerce Alternative
The cross-border e-commerce channel provides a simpler regulatory pathway for food products that are sold directly to Chinese consumers through the cross-border e-commerce platforms — Tmall Global, JD Worldwide, and others. The cross-border e-commerce food products are not required to meet the full Chinese food safety standards or to have the Chinese label — the products must meet the standards of the country of origin, and the label must be in Chinese or in English with a Chinese-language electronic label.
But the cross-border e-commerce channel is limited to products on the positive list — the list of products approved for cross-border e-commerce — and the products must be sold directly to consumers, not to wholesalers or to retailers. A foreign food company that’s entering the China market should consider the cross-border e-commerce channel as a market test before committing to the full import regulatory pathway.
