I. Law Enforcement Basis

Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, Implementing Regulations of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, Law of the People's Republic of China on Imported and Exported Commodities Inspection, Implementing Regulations of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Imported and Exported Commodities Inspection, Law of the People's Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine and Implementing Regulations of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine.

II. Overview of Food Importing Process

1. Application conditions:

(1) Countries or regions that export food to China have undergone assessment and examination by China's food safety management system in terms of food safety status. Some products shall be included in the catalogues of food exported to China from countries or regions that meet the assessment and examination requirements and conduct traditional trade with China (the catalogues can be found on the website of the General Administration of Customs at http://43.248.49.223/index.aspx);
(2) For products subject to registration management, overseas establishments shall complete the registration. (Registration information of overseas establishments can be found on the website of the General Administration of Customs at http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/jyjy/jckspaq/xxfw63/jkspjwscqyzcxx/index.html);
(3) Importers and exporters of imported food (overseas exporters or agencies that export food to the Chinese mainland and domestic consignees of imported food) shall complete record-filing with the General Administration of Customs;
(4) The imported food meets China's national food safety standards and relevant inspection and quarantine requirements;
(5) If there are management requirements for regulatory certificates, the regulatory certificates required for import (the registration certificate of product formulas of infant formula milk powder, the registration certificate of food for special medical purposes, the registration certificate of dietary supplements or the record-filing voucher of dietary supplements, the safety certificate of agricultural genetically-modified organisms and the entry animal and plant quarantine permit) shall be obtained in accordance with relevant provisions prior to declaration.

2. Application materials:

The importer of imported food or its agent shall declare the food to the customs in accordance with provisions. The declaration materials can be either transmitted to the customs electronically in the form of a paperless declaration or directly submitted to the customs in the form of a paper original or photocopy. The materials required include:

(1) In the case of importing food that requires regulatory certificates, the registration certificate of product formulas of infant formula milk powder, the registration certificate of food for special medical purposes, the registration certificate of dietary supplements or the record-filing voucher of dietary supplements, the safety certificate of agricultural genetically-modified organisms and the entry animal and plant quarantine permit(If necessary, the customs may verify the original. For a regulatory certificate that can be verified online, only the certificate number needs to be declared, and no original or photocopy of the certificate is required to be provided );
(2)  The official quarantine (health) certificate and the certificate of origin (certification) of the exporting country (region) required by laws and regulations, bilateral agreements, protocols and the announcements of the General Administration of Customs;
(3) List of goods for imported food;
(4) Certification/declaration materials provided by the food importer: the guarantee of conformity, the food (vegetable oil) inspection report, the list of goods (edible vegetable oil in bulk) carried by the means of transport in the first last three voyages and the commitment and statement of aquatic products caught by pelagic fishing enterprises (pelagic self-caught aquatic products).

When making a declaration, an enterprise shall declare one by one the following contents of the food to be imported: product name, brand, country (region) of origin, specifications, quantity/weight, total value, production date (batch number), importer, overseas producer, overseas exporter, numbers of commercial documents (such as contracts, invoices, packing slips lists and bills of lading) and other contents required by the General Administration of Customs, and promise to obtain the above approval and licensing documents.

3. Processing process:

(1) The declaration enterprise applies to the customs for customs declaration and submits relevant materials. The enterprise shall log in to the China International Trade Single Window (https://www.singlewindow.cn) for online customs declaration and upload the accompanying materials in an electronic form. The customs shall examine the customs declaration materials, and accept the application if the materials meet the requirements of norms, or inform the enterprise that it shall make supplements or corrections if the materials do not meet the requirements.
(2) Implementing inspection and quarantine. Conformity assessment of imported food shall be carried out by the customs in accordance with relevant laws and regulations on the safety of imported and exported food.
(3) If the imported food meets the requirements after undergoing the conformity assessment, the customs shall issue an Inspection and Quarantine Certificate for Entry Goods. If the imported food does not meet the requirements and the items involving safety, health or environmental protection are not qualified, the customs shall issue a Notice of Inspection and Quarantine, ordering the party concerned to destroy the food, or issue a notice of return, requiring the importer to go through the return formalities. If other items are unqualified, technical treatment can be carried out under the supervision of the customs, and they can be sold and used only after being qualified upon re-inspection.