With all that’s been happening in the pet food industry, from DCM-identified pet food brands to the US-China trade wars, let’s all still be grounded by finding out how your private label pet food can get into China. It pays to be updated with what’s latest when it comes to exporting your brand into the China market.
GACC Decree 243
Issued on November 23, 2018, the General Administration of Customs People’s Republic of China or GACC Decree 243 amends Decree 118 “Supervision and Management Measures for the Inspection and Quarantine of Import and Export Feed and Feed Additive”. Said amendment deletes requirements for import registration license on feed and feed additives under Article 16 of Decree 118. Immediate implementation of the decree was enforced.
In a report by petfoodindustry.com, GACC Decree 243 “does not abolish feed and feed additives memorandum of association (MOA) registration, but cancels the MOA registration re-examining during customs clearance.” This means China Customs “will not examine MOA registrations twice during the clearance process.” Note though, that the MOA registration is still needed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA).
Still, all feed and feed additives sold in China should be registered with the Ministry as per regulations from MARA “Administrative Measures on Feed and Feed Additives”, “MOA Regulation on Feed and Feed Additive Import Registration”, and “Administrative Measures for Pet Feed”.
Note that feed products of animal origin (including pet food) are the primary quarantined items by China Customs and MARA. It is strongly recommended to obtain a MOA registration before exporting these to China.
Access to the Chinese market
There are two types of access granted to countries so they can export pet food to China: full market access and partial market access.
Full market access assumes that all exporters have automatic access to the Chinese market. There’s also a GACC-approved list of products that are permitted to enter China. Their respective manufacturing facilities are mandated to register with the GACC, which they can do during or after the time of export.
Partial market access assumes that exporters do not have automatic access to the Chinese market. Before exporters can send their products to China, they need to register their facilities with GACC. Only when registered can they export products to China.
Note that only New Zealand is the only country with full market access to China. Imagine finding the right private label partner for your brand. Check out what Addiction Private Label can do for your brand.
For further reading:
https://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/7771-pet-food-in-china-new-decree-how-to-navigate-exporting
https://www.dccchina.org/2018/06/pet-food-chinese-importers/
http://www.cbbc.org/cbbc/media/cbbc_media/4.%20Files/Exporting-Pet-Food-to-China_1.pdf
https://www.china-briefing.com/news/exporting-food-products-to-china-regulation-and-procedure/
