GACC will cancel the record for imported food label

On April 22, 2019, the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) issued Announcement No. 70 [2019] of the General Administration of Customs of China (Announcement on the Supervision on Labels of Imported and Exported Prepackaged Food). The announcement clarifies that cancel the record for the label of first imported prepackaged food, and import agency is responsible for label. The cancellation starts from October 1, 2019.

This implies that the import agency is responsible for label, including the qualified certification materials, the original and translated labels of the imported pre-packaged food. Usually importer will ask the supplier to be responsible for these. The customs shall still inspect the label of imported food as one of compulsory examination items. The products which not comply with Chinese labeling regulations and standards may not be imported to China. Punishments can be issued to non-compliant ones.

Our suggestion is to hire experienced expert to review the label (label review) in advance before you ship the products.

The following regulations & standards are related to food label requirement in Mainland China.

*The Food Safety Law and thereof regulations for the implementation

*Law on Import and Export Commodity Inspection and thereof regulations for the implementation

*Measures for the Safety Administration of Imported and Exported Food

*National Food Safety Standard General Principles for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (GB 7718-2011)

*National Food Safety Standard General Principles for the Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Food (GB 28050-2011)

*National Food Safety Standard Labeling of Prepackaged Foods for Special Dietary Uses

*National Food Safety Standard Uses of Food Additives (GB 2760-2014)

*National Food Safety Standard Uses of nutritional Fortifiers in Foods