With the improvement of domestic consumption level, healthy products have gradually entered the public's consumption vision. Developed countries such as Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea have mature health food markets, brands and products, which are deeply loved by domestic consumers.

According to China's regulations, what are the ways to import health food overseas, and what are their pros and cons? Foodmate sorts out and analyzes the current three mainstream overseas health food import channels, in order to better share information with domestic and overseas traders.

1. import overseas health food in the form of ordinary food

At present, many overseas health foods are imported in the form of ordinary food. The most important thing for importing in this form is to "set standards". Common standards used for application include solid beverages, tablet candies, gel candies, beverages, etc.

importing in the form of ordinary food does not require cumbersome health food registration, filing and other processes, and can make products imported and listed more quickly. At the same time, many overseas health foods are becoming more and more food-like, allowing consumers to experience the use of health food more ordinary, rather than "taking medicine". For example, the gel candy dosage forms that have emerged in recent years, as well as many small bottled beverages, are health foods that perform very well in overseas markets.

When importing in the form of ordinary food, attention should be paid to the compliance of the formula, and it is generally necessary to modify the formula to ensure that the product meets the corresponding Chinese national standards.


2. import overseas health food through cross-border e-commerce trade

Cross-border e-commerce refers to the commercial form in which consumers in China purchase goods from overseas through third-party platform operators of cross-border e-commerce, and carry them into China for consumption through "online shopping tax declaration import" or "direct purchase import".

Compared with general trade forms, the biggest difference of cross-border e-commerce is that commodities are supervised as imported goods for personal use, and do not need to implement the requirements for approval, registration or filing for the first import license of relevant commodities; commodities comply with the relevant quality, safety, microbiological, Environmental protection, labeling and other standards or technical specifications, and may not meet my country's product standards; products purchased directly from abroad may not have Chinese labels. Consumers can view the Chinese electronic labels of the products through the third party platform website.

Traders can directly sell products that legally sold overseas through cross-border e-commerce, without the need for time-consuming, labor-intensive and costly work such as formula changes and label changes.

3. import of overseas health food in the form of health food

importing overseas health food in the form of health food is undoubtedly the most time-consuming and costly, but the most compliant form. Products imported in the form of health food can be sold not only online and in general offline channels, but also in pharmacies, which is more in line with the consumption habits of middle-aged and elderly people.

However, due to China's health food regulations are not yet perfect, there are few types of imported health food that can be done at present, and it is difficult too. Currently, only import filing is more feasible. Although the import registration is allowed by the regulations, the supporting regulations are not very well established. In fact, the operation takes a long time and is very difficult.

4. Comparison of the three methods


To sum up, each way of importing health food has its own advantages and disadvantages, and enterprises can choose the appropriate way to import products according to their own needs.