On April 12, 2021, the China GAC (General Administration of Customs) announced the implementation of the administrative measures for the safety of imported and exported food products (GAC Order No. 249).
According to Article 30, if an instruction manual is required by the Chinese regulations for food safety, there should also be a Chinese version. For imported health food and food for special dietary use, the Chinese labelling must be printed on the smallest packing of the product and must not be affixed.
After the enterprise has completed the customs registration, it will obtain a registration number, which must be shown the packaging of imported products.
Also on April 12, 2021, the China GAC announced the implementation of the administrative measures for the registration of overseas manufacturers for imported food products (GAC Order No. 248).
From January 1, 2022, overseas production, processing, and storage enterprises that export food to China must be registered with GAC. The list of registered companies will be uniformly announced by GAC, and the registration is valid for 4 years.
According to Article 7, overseas manufacturers of food (including imported health food and food for special dietary use) shall first be recommended to the GACC by the competent authorities from the product’s country of origin to apply for registration before importing the product.
In short, after January 1, 2022, to bring health food (nutritional supplements or food with specific health functions) to China, you will not only need to apply for product filing with the SAMR (State Administration for Market Regulation), but also apply for production enterprise registration with GAC. Additionally, you will need to prepare special Chinese labels for your products.
By Jacky Li. Contact Cisema if you would like to learn more.
