Urgent action required for exports to China

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) would like to inform the Canadian industry who export medium risk products (see definition below) to China of their urgent action necessary by October 22, 2021 to meet the new requirements of China, which are coming into force on January 1, 2022 affecting food exports, including animal-based and plant-based food products.

Context

On April 12, 2021, the General Administration of Customs China (GACC) released two new regulations that will regulate food safety in China as well as imported and exported foods: Decree 248 (Provisions on the Administration of Registration of Foreign Enterprises Producing Imported Food), and Decree 249 (Administrative Measures on Import and Export Food Safety). The new Decrees are set to come into force on January 1, 2022, and all countries exporting to China will be required to meet the new requirements under the Decrees.

Decree 248 includes the requirement for a broad range of food products that will need to be registered with Customs China, including some products that are currently registered by the CFIA with China and listed in GACC's eligibility lists. Decree 248 also includes many new products that may require establishment and exporter registration.

On October 1, Canada received specific guidance from China requesting that CFIA submit to GACC certain exporter/company information by the end of October 2021. In accordance with this request, please carefully review the following information and action, as necessary:

Action required by Canadian industry

* The following categories and commodities have been defined by GACC.

1. A. Category: high risk
   • products impacted: meat and meat products (Beef and pork), aquatic products, dairy products, bird nests and bird nest products
   • companies impacted: establishments/vessels that are currently eligible to export one or more of these "high risk" products to China
   • action required: no further action is required at this time
2. B. Category: medium risk
   • products impacted: honey, Royal Jelly, casing (salted), soy flour, dry bean flour, dried peas, dried kidney beans, black pepper, canary seed (not for seeding) ,mustard powder, mustard, chili powder, borage seed, malt, canary seed without shell, fresh or chilled cucumber and pickle, fresh or chilled pea (with pod or without pod), wheat flour, flax seed, oatmeal, edible vegetable oil, coffee bean, functional food, foods for special dietary purposes
   • companies impacted: exporters, processing plants, cold and dry storage who have exported one or more of these "medium risk" products to China since January 1, 2017.
   • action required: impacted companies must complete and return the attached form (Annex 1) by October 22, 2021 at 11:59 EST. Send your completed information to: aafc.mas-sam.aac@canada.ca
3. NOTE: Only information completed in full and received by October 22, 2021 will be transmitted to China.
4. C. Category: low risk
   • products impacted: those products not deemed high risk and medium risk and that are currently being exported to China
   • companies impacted: all companies that currently export to China products that are not high or medium risk
   • action required: to continue exporting to China companies will need to self-register with China through the International Trade Single Window Service System (www.singlewindow.cn). Article 9 of Decree 248 provides further details on this process and exporters should work with their Chinese importers as necessary to complete the registration. CFIA will provide further details on the process if and when they become available.

Additional information

In advance of China's implementation of Decrees 248 and 249, Canadian food exporters who want to continue exporting to China are required to be compliant with the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) as well as with China's import requirements (including compliance with various provisions in the decrees). Specifically, for those food exporters who are required to obtain an SFCR license, you must have a valid SFCR export licence, implemented an effective Preventive Control Plan (PCP) for both food safety and consumer protection risks, and that you are in compliance with the CFIA's preventive controls and traceability requirements.

We would also like to advise industry stakeholders that there is no action necessary at this time with respect to submitting registration information for the specific grain commodities of wheat, barley, soybean, canola that are registered under Decree 177.

Directions for Annex 1

Please refer to the following definitions for completion of Annex 1

Registration number

To be provided by CFIA (no action required)

Name of manufacturer:

The name of the manufacturer (exporter, processing, cold and dry storage)

Address of manufacturer

The street address of the manufacturer (processing, cold and dry storage). If you are an exporter without a location, please include your headquarter address.

Province

The province of the manufacturer (processing, cold and dry storage)

City

The city of the manufacturer (processing, cold and dry storage)

Type

Processing plant (PP), dry storage (DS) or cold storage (CS)

Products for approval: (Only include the following products on Annex 1)

1. honey
2. Royal Jelly
3. casing (salted)
4. soy flour
5. dry bean flour
6. dried peas
7. dried kidney beans
8. black pepper
9. canary seed (not for seeding)
10. mustard powder
11. mustard
12. chili powder
13. borage seed
14. malt
15. canary seed without shell
16. fresh or chilled cucumber and pickle
17. fresh or chilled pea (with pod or without pod)
18. wheat flour
19. flax seed
20. oat products (example: oatmeal, oat flour)
21. edible vegetable oil
22. coffee bean
23. functional food^Footnote 1
24. foods for special dietary purposes^Footnote 2

HS Codes

Provide the 8 or 10 digit HS Code for each product exported to China

Latest date of trade to China

Provide the date of last export of the product(s). Must be a date since

Annex 1 – Canadian entities exporting to China (extra lines can be added to the table as required)

SEND YOUR COMPLETED INFORMATION TO: AAFC.MAS-SAM.AAC@CANADA.CA BY OCTOBER 22, 2021 AT 11:59 EST.

Acknowledgement, Consent and Disclaimer

By virtue of providing this information to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), and by submitting this form for the company identified below, I acknowledge and agree that :

• the CFIA will include the information in a list to be sent to General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic China (GACC).
• GACC may use my company name and address to create eligibility lists and post this information online/make it public.
• the CFIA has no control over how this information will be used by GACC or once it is made public; and,
• there may be amendments to this acknowledgement, consent and disclaimer process and registration/information forms as may be required.

Full name and Title:

Name of company:

Full Address (including postal code):

Email:

Telephone Number:

Date: