Export to China
Imago / ZUMA Press, imago images / ZUMA Press 
Deliveries to China have become more complicated with the turn of the year. This also affects intestines and stomachs.
BELGIUM, Brussels. At the beginning of the year, China tightened numerous customs regulations for food and agricultural raw materials. Many companies have problems with the required registration.
German companies are facing teething problems with regard to China's tightened rules for the import of agricultural raw materials and foodstuffs at the beginning of the year. This was reported by Stefanie Sabet, Managing Director and Head of the Brussels Office of the Federation of German Food and Drink Industries, to the news agency Agra-Europe. According to her, the problem was that exporters only got access to the registration procedure at a very late stage. China's internet portal only went online at the end of November 2021, and the first official registrations were made at the end of the year.
According to the BVE, a total of 14 product categories fall under the official registration obligation, including intestines and stomachs, bee products, eggs and egg products, fats and oils for human consumption, cereals and potatoes, mill products and malt, as well as food supplements and functional foods. For all other foodstuffs, there is an obligation to self-register, which companies can do via the same Internet portal. 
Due to teething problems, only 600 companies worldwide had registered by the end of the year, according to Chinese authorities, Sabet reported. However, she welcomed the fact that the People's Republic had shown itself to be accommodating and that the new regulations on the labelling of registration numbers would only be applied to foodstuffs produced after 1 January 2022. This was particularly important for products already on their way to China. Nevertheless, the companies had been under enormous pressure at the turn of the year, as the next deliveries to the "Middle Kingdom" had been pending and the customs registration number had been needed for this.
The People's Republic of China had the new import regulations notified by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in November 2020. In April 2021, the China Customs Service had published the new regulations; however, detailed instructions were not issued until October. The online registration portal for companies was then activated by Beijing in November.
According to the BVE, a total of 14 product categories fall under the official registration obligation, including intestines and stomachs, bee products, eggs and egg products, fats and oils for human consumption, cereals and potatoes, mill products and malt, as well as food supplements and functional foods. For all other foodstuffs, there is an obligation to self-register, which companies can do via the same Internet portal.
Imago / ITAR-TASS
Due to teething problems, only 600 companies worldwide had registered by the end of the year, according to Chinese authorities, Sabet reported. However, she welcomed the fact that the People's Republic had shown itself to be accommodating and that the new regulations on the labelling of registration numbers would only be applied to foodstuffs produced after 1 January 2022. This was particularly important for products already on their way to China. Nevertheless, the companies had been under enormous pressure at the turn of the year, as the next deliveries to the "Middle Kingdom" had been pending and the customs registration number had been needed for this.
The People's Republic of China had the new import regulations notified by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in November 2020. In April 2021, the China Customs Service had published the new regulations; however, detailed instructions were not issued until October. The online registration portal for companies was then activated by Beijing in November.
Source: fleischwirtschaft.de; AgE
