Since January 1, 2022, the General Administration of Customs of China (Hereinafter referred to as GACC) has been implementing the registration management of overseas manufactures of imported food for more than one year, and the registration is being further promoted in an orderly manner. Registration information of dairy products, meat, aquatic products and bird's nest products that previously obtained registration qualifications has also been integrated into the new China import Food Enterprises Registration (Hereinafter referred to as CIFER) system. However, according to the requirements of GACC Decree No. 248, some registration information and materials of these products are incomplete. Therefore, there are concerns about the registration of imported food manufacturers and speculation about the relevance of China's newly released registration or filing regulations. Foodmate here to share relevant experience for your reference.

As of June 30, 2023, all information and materials need to be added in the CIFER system？

Yes, but not for all products.

This is mainly for business registration information collected by countries in 2021 on the old four types of products (dairy, meat, aquatic products and bird's nest products). After integrating these information into the new CIFER system, they do not meet the requirements of the current GACC Decree No. 248. For example, necessary information and materials such as detailed product information, process flow chart and factory plan are -incomplete. Therefore, GACC requests that the necessary information and materials to be added and completed by June 30, 2023. The judgment of all categories shall be based on the result of "Product type query" in the CIFER system. For example, "lactose" belongs to dairy products in many countries, but in the CIFER system, it belongs to "sugars (including raw sugar, sugar, lactose, syrups, etc.)" under non-18 categories products. Therefore, lactose product registered enterprises are not affected by this supplementary work.

Does the cancellation of the registration requirements for foreign trade operators by the Ministry of Commerce mean that importers of imported food do not need to file with GACC?

On December 30, 2022, China amended the Foreign Trade Law and decided that since December 30, 2022, the competent commercial departments of all regions should stop filing registration of foreign trade operators. Some industry insiders believe this move means: for importers of food products, there is no need to file with the GACC. According to Foodmate, this regulation relates to the Ministry of Commerce's management of the import and export rights of foreign trade enterprises, and does not affect the GACC' requirements on the management of imported food. importers of imported food are still required to file with the GACC according to GACC Decree No. 248.

Suggestions for you

Foodmate has completed the registration agent work for more than 100 overseas manufacturing enterprises, and has accumulated rich experience in registration. Please contact us if you have any relevant matters or questions about the registration of imported food overseas manufacturing enterprises. For example, have you met such a situation: the enterprise has clearly passed the registration, but nothing can be seen when you want to change something or query the specific registration content in the CIFER system? Come on, Foodmate can help you solve these registration related problems.