On November 26, 2019, the General Administration of Customs (GACC) solicited public opinions on the Regulations on the Administration of Registration of Overseas Manufacturers of Imported Foods (Draft for Comment) (hereinafter referred to as “Draft”). The deadline for opinions is December 25,2019.
Antion compared the Draft with the current vision of Provisions. The major alterations are as follow:
Emphasizes main body responsibility of the food-related parties
The food-related parties include competent authorities of overseas manufacturers, overseas manufacturers, importers, etc., and the responsibilities involve compliance statement, annual report system, overseas enterprise audit system, etc.
Expands the scope of registration of overseas manufacturers for imported food
The scope of registration of overseas manufacturers for imported food was changed from "overseas manufacturers in the Implementation Catalogue for the Registration of Foreign Food Production Enterprises "to" overseas manufacturers who intend to export food to China". Currently, overseas manufacturers of dairy products, meat products, honey, aquatic products and edible bird’s nest need to apply for registration before they export food to China. After this modification, in principle, all overseas manufacturers intend to export food in China in the future should be registered with the GACC. But also clarifies "based on risk analysis, implement classified registration management of overseas manufacturers". Therefore, Antion believes that it is possible that the registration will be established in batches and stages based on the risk assessments of imported food, and the registration of all overseas product should not be realized in a short time.
Extends the validity period for the registration of overseas manufacturers of imported food
Validation was replaced by 5 years in the draft version, instead of 4 years in the current version.
The requirements of registration materials are changed
Draft deletes requirements such as "application for manufacturer registration, floor plans of factory, workshops and cold storage, and process flow diagrams". Adds such provisions as "Inspection report on recommended food production enterprises" and "statement of commitment by the enterprise that its sanitary conditions and production processes are consistent with China's requirements” provided by competent authorities of exporting country, and those documents should be in Chinese or English.
Furthermore clarify the related contents and requirements of imported food labeling
Stipulated that registered manufacturers of imported food shall truthfully mark the registration number, name and address of the manufacturer on the minimum sales package of food exported to China.
Details use conditions for rectification, change, revocation and cancellation
Draft indicates 3 kinds of rectify situations, which includes “inconsistent with the registration requirements; failure to submit annual verification materials as required; failure to mark relevant information on minimum sales package as required”, and also stipulates to suspend exports of related products to China during the rectification period.
Adds the requirements of annual verification and reporting system
Article 18 illustrates “for the imported foods, which have high safety risks and high sensitivity of consumers, GACC should implement annual verification and reporting system for registered overseas manufacturers”, and stipulates overseas manufacturers and competent authorities to submit continuous supervision statements, the recently supervision and inspection report of the year, compliance statements and self-evaluation reports of the enterprises, and other materials to GACC before December 31 of each year.
Currently, the Measures is still in the stage of soliciting opinions, and enterprises can give timely feedback on the basis of the actual situation, and state the practical problems and cases, so as to improve the laws and regulations to comply with the current situation and demands of the food industry.