On September 8, 2020 Meat Industry Development Conference was held in Qingdao. General Administration of Customs relevant departments responsible person at the meeting said that a series of measures such as communication and consultation with exporting countries (regions), remote video inspections of food companies exporting to China, and dynamic management of epidemic-stricken companies have been adopted to continuously strengthen source control and ensure the safety of imported cold chain food.

After the outbreak of the COVID-19, GACC sent a letter to the competent authorities of 105 countries (regions) involved in the export of cold chain food to China, and held a video conference with the competent authorities of the countries (regions), requesting them to follow the relevant guidelines issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement effective supervision. As of September 7, the General Administration of Customs has held 121 video conferences with 99 countries (regions), and China’s initiative has received extensive support and response from exporting countries.

As of September 7, the General Administration of Customs has imposed import suspension measures on 56 cold chain food companies in 19 countries where employees have contracted COVID-19 pneumonia. Among them, 41 companies have voluntarily suspended exports to China.

Up to now, China has approved the import of 7 kinds of meat products including pigs, cattle, sheep, poultry, deer, horses and donkeys from 2020 companies in 38 countries (regions). Chinese total meat imports have increased from 2.792 million tons in 2014 to 6.1782 million tons in 2019, an increase of 121.28% in the past five years. imports of 6.58 million tons in the first eight months of this year have exceeded the total imports of last year.

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