FDA to Start Collecting Food Exporter Info by Dec. 17 for New Chinese Registration Requirements
FDA is recommending that exporters of certain food products to China provide the agency with facility information by Dec. 17 to avoid a potential trade disruption from the entry into effect of Chinese food facility requirements on Jan. 1, it said. While FDA continues to engage China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) on the potential for self-registration of U.S. exporters to China, FDA says it still has yet to receive a satisfactory response and may be required to submit exporter registration data to China at the beginning of the new year.
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The new Chinese requirements were announced in April (see 2104280008). Beginning Jan. 1, China will require that exporting countries recommend registration of establishments involved in the export to China of certain foods in 18 categories. Exporters of food in categories not among those 18 will be allowed to self-register, rather than have to register through their own governments.
The 18 categories named in the Chinese decree are: Meat and meat products, aquatic products, dairy products, bird nests and bird nest products, casings, bee products, eggs and egg products, edible oils and fats, stuffed wheaten products, edible grains, milled grain industry products and malt, fresh and dehydrated vegetables and dried beans, condiments, nuts and seeds, dried fruits, unroasted coffee beans and cocoa beans, foods for special dietary purposes, and functional food.
FDA says it already provides facility information to China for meat and meat products, aquatic products (i.e., seafood), dairy products (including infant formula) and birds nests and birds nest products. For the other 14, FDA interprets the Chinese decree to mean that, under the phase one agreement between the U.S. and China, U.S. facilities may self-register. However, FDA has not heard back from China on the latter interpretation, so the agency is “taking proactive steps to maintain current market access for FDA-regulated firms in the United States that export food to China.”
Beginning Dec. 6, exporters of foods in categories 5-18 may submit an application to FDA through the agency’s Export Listing Module, “providing information for products they currently export to China to allow the FDA to facilitate registration of these establishments with China,” FDA said. “To ensure that the FDA has the relevant establishment information before the end of the year, any U.S. establishment currently exporting food products in categories 5-18 to China should submit applications to the ELM by December 17, 2021,” FDA said.
If necessary, FDA will provide that information directly to the Chinese government, rather than back to the U.S. exporters, FDA said. “In the event it is needed for registration for China, the FDA may provide an attestation directly to GACC for U.S. establishments and their products that comply with applicable U.S. requirements in order to facilitate registration,” it said.