Important Release | Explanations issued by GACC About Regulations of Overseas Producers Registration of Imported Foods (GACC Decree 248)
On November 5th, 2021, The General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) has issued the explanation for the new Chinese Regulation for Overseas Food Producers Regulation (GACC Decree 248). Since the release of GACC Decree 248 in April 2021, the regulation remains one of the hottest topics of the global food trade business. In this article, we have concentrated on the most concerned questions asked by import & export food business participants all over the world, such as the continuity of registration validity, and provided our summarized highlights of GACC’s definitive explanations and our professional advises.
1. These Regulations apply to the registration management of overseas manufacturers of production, processing, and storage that export foods to China. So what are the definition of the food and overseas food producers? Does the food raw material production enterprise need to be registered?
According to Article 2’s explanation：Food refers to all kinds of finished products and raw materials for human eating or drinking, as well as products that are both food and traditional Chinese medicine in traditional use, but does not include products for the purpose of treatment.
The corresponding enterprises, places and fishing boats engaged in food production and processing activities are the food production and processing enterprises.
A producer that has suitable places and containers for food storage and stores food according to the safety and health requirements of food storage belongs to a food storage facility.
Food raw materials, finished products and dual-purpose products for food and medicine all belong to food, so if your production is raw materials and you are manufacturer, you need to be registered.
2. If the relevant inspection and quarantine requirements (mentioned in Article 5 of 248) for the registration conditions of overseas production enterprises of imported food is different from the new regulation 248, which should be followed?
According to Article 5’s explanation：If the relevant inspection and quarantine requirements about the registration methods and required documents agreed upon by the General Administration of Customs and the competent authorities of the country (region), then these implementations of relevant inspection and quarantine requirements maintain effective.
For production enterprises who apply to decree 248 should follow the effective inspection and quarantine agreement.
3. How to find out the HS CODE of the product belongs to 18 types need to be recommended by the competent authority of the country, and the other products that can be registered by yourself or agent?
According to Article 7’s explanation：The HS code range of 18 categories and other categories of imported food can be found on the official website of the General Administration of customs. The HS code range will be adjusted synchronously according to the update of tariff code.
4. Can food producers and the Competent Authority use the CHECK-LIST issued by GACC?
According to Article 8’s explanation：Yes. The Customs will formulate the corresponding registration requirements and comparison CHECK-LIST. The producers and your competent authorities can use the CHECK-LIST to audit and inspect the relevant producers, and the audit and inspection results can be used as item 5 of the application materials – as the report. The General Administration of Customs will also conduct assessment and review using the CHECK-LIST. The CHECK-LIST makes the audit and inspection conducted by the producers and competent authorities basically consistent with the evaluation and review conducted by the General Administration of Customs.
5. For the overseas producers whose products doesn’t belong to the 18 categories, what should the producers must know？
According to Article 9’s explanation：The agents entrusted by the producers can be organizations and individuals in China and abroad that comply with relevant laws and regulations. In addition to the required application materials, a letter of authorization shall also be provided. The letter of authorization shall specify the basic information of the consigner and agent, the entrusted matters, delegated authority, the start and end date of the authority of agency, entrusting date, the signature or stamp of the consigner. If the consigner changes the contents of the entrustment or terminate the entrustment in advance, you shall inform China customs in writing .Therefore, it is absolutely important to choose a trustworthy agent.
6. Will GACC conduct different application form for different types of food and template for the producers’ applications for registration?
Yes. According to Article 10’s explanation: GACC will conduct different application form for different type of food, and filling example for different types of registration application.
7. Are the registration application materials only submitted in Chinese or English?
According to Article 11’s explanation: This article specifies that the registration application materials shall be filled in and submitted in Chinese or English. However, if the two countries have separate agreement on the application method and application materials, then you can carry out the requirements of the separate agreement.
8. Will GACC conduct evaluation and review by themselves?
According to Article 13’s explanation: Before the General Administration of customs only organized an evaluation team by themselves to carry out the evaluation and review. This article clearly explains that relevant institutions can also be entrusted to carry out the evaluation and review as well.
9. How does GACC conduct video inspection?
According to Article 13’s explanation: GACC will organize a review team to inspect the producers' food safety and health management system and status through Internet video. Producers and the competent authorities of the country (region) being inspected shall provide necessary assistance for video inspection. For specific details such as connection tools and inspection contents, we(GACC registration service organization) can help you to prepare and practice in advance.
10. Will every producer registered successfully in China get a registration number in China?
According to Article 14’s explanation: Yes.
11. Why does GACC uniformly assign Chinese registration number to registered enterprises of different food categories?
According to Article 14’s explanation: Before the overseas food producers use the registration number of the competent authority of the country (region). However, due to the different food safety management systems and numbering rules in various countries, the registration numbers are often overlapped and confused. So the decree 248 newly establishes registration number requirements in China and gives a unified registration number in China to registered producers of different food categories.
12. Should I mark the Chinese registration number or the registration number approved by my competent authority?
According to Article 15’s explanation: Registered producers can choose to mark their registration number granted by GACC or the registration number approved by the competent authorities. However in the long term, our GACC encourage overseas food producers to choose to mark their registration number granted by GACC.
13. What the inner and outer packaging of foods refer to that should be marked with registration number?
According to Article 15’s explanation: The inner packaging of foods refers to sales units with independent packaging that can be sold separately, the outer packaging refers to the transport packaging.
14. How should I print my registration number on the packaging of my products? Are there any additional requirements?
According to Article 15’s explanation, registration numbers on the food labels shall follow relevant requirements such as<National Labeling Standard for Prepackaged Foods> (GB 7718-2011), including:
1. The registration number shall be printed on each of the minimum packages for sale;
2. Registration number shall be clear, visible and enduring, making it easy for the consumers to recognize; and
3. If the total packaging surface is more than 35 cm2, each character of the registration number shall not be smaller than 1.8mm.
There are many other relevant laws, regulations and administrative management, when considering the label you should make sure you have met all the requirements.
15. My production plant has already been registered, is it still valid when Decree 248 comes into force? Do I have to reapply for registration?
This is one of the most popular questions since Decree 248 is released. For enterprises already registered before this regulation (GACC Decree 248) comes into force, the registration remains valid. However, when the current registration is due to expire, the enterprises shall apply for registration renewal under the new regulation (instead of the old Decree 145), or else the registration will be revoked.
16. Will my production plants be reevaluated after the registration? What are the consequences if it is found noncompliant to the requirements? What shall we do to avoid these negative results?
Yes. GACC may organize expert teams to conduct reevaluations, in order to ensure the registered enterprises keep conforming to the registration requirements.
If a production plant is found noncompliant during the reevaluation, GACC may suspend its export and request the enterprise to take rectification measures, or even revoke the registration in certain severe circumstances.
In order to prevent such negative results, the first thing you’ll need to do is to understand what may cause your facilities to be revoked, including:
a) You are responsible for severe food safety incidents
b) Severe food safety problems are detected in your products exported to China
c) Significant problems are found in your food safety and sanitation management system
d) You provided false information or refuse to cooperate with GACC’s assessments and reviews
Instead of all these above, the producers would also need to keep up with Chinese national safety standards and food safety regulations, such as GB 7718-2011 <National Labeling Standard for Prepackaged Foods> and GACC’s conformity assessments policy. Equally important way is organizing compliance training courses constantly in order to build up the overall compliance foundation for your enterprise.
17. When my registered information changes, how do I apply for changing my information? Do I still have to submit it through the same competent authority or agent of my registration application?
According to the GACC official explanation for Article 19, overseas producers shall apply for information changes through their initial registration application path, which means:
a) If a producer is registered through the recommendation of its competent authority, it shall still apply for information changes through its competent authority.
b) If a producer is registered by itself or through an agent, it shall still apply for information changes by itself or through the agent.
Why it is so important to choose a professional and responsible agent? A trustworthy agent will keep monitoring and managing your registered information, provide accurately and timely solutions for information changes, thus eliminating possible risks and delays for your export.
18. I was told that once some of my registered information changes, I will need to reapply for my registration. What are these registered information?
If your ① production site ② legal representative or ③ registration number of your own country has changed, or ④ there are significant changes involving your food safety management system, GACC will request you to reapply for registration. For all the other changed information you will only need to submit an application for information changes.
Furthermore there are some typical circumstances that producer often gets confused, so we need to be particularly clear on that:
a) ‘Change of production site’ means the actual production and storage sites (such as factories, workshops or cold storages) have moved to another new location. However, if your office location has changed while your actual production location remains the same, the overseas producers will not need to reapply for registration, and shall only apply for changing the office address.
b) In most circumstances ‘Legal representative’ refers to the owners of the production facilities. If the executive manager (on behalf of the actual owner) of a production facility has changed overseas producers shall apply for changing information firstly. GACC may conduct evaluations and decide whether to approve the changed information or request the producer to reapply for registration.
c) For changes that may affect the production facility’s food safety and sanitation management system (e.g. expanded production capacity, upgraded equipment, applied to a new food safety management system, etc.), GACC may evaluate the producers’ application for changing information and decide whether to approve the changed information or request the producer to reapply for registration.
The practical situations for changing information can be rather complicated. With the help a professional and experienced registration consultant, overseas producers can perform accurate and immediate measures in different situations, thus minimizing risks and the costs of time.
19. Instead of the change of production site, legal representative and registration number, are there any other situations that I need to re-apply for registration?
Yes. Sometimes the production facilities may change or upgrade their equipment, expand their production capacity, change important personnel or adapt to a new management system – these changes may significantly affect the efficiency of their food safety and sanitation management. Taking these situations into consideration, GACC states in their explanation for Decree 248 Article 19 that, the producer shall apply for changing information firstly in such situations; GACC may evaluate and decide whether to approve the changed information or to request the producer to reapply for registration.
20. Do I always need to reapply for registration whenever my worksite moves to another location?
Overseas producers are required to apply for changing information only when the actual production site (such as factories, workshops or cold storages, etc.) moves to another location. If your administrative offices moved to another location, while the actual production and storage sites remains unchanged, there is no need to reapply for registration, however you still need to apply for changing your information with GACC.
21. Who is the legal representative of my production facility? Do I have to reapply for registration when our administrative personnel changes?
In most circumstances, legal representative regards to the owners of your production facility. However sometimes when the executive manager (on behalf of the owner) of the production facility changes, as long as it significantly affects the food safety management system GACC may request the overseas producers to reapply for registration.
22. After reapplying for registration, will my original registration number still be valid? Can I print it on the labels of my products exported to China?
Upon completing your re-application for registration, GACC will grant you with a new China registration number if your application is approved, and the original China registration number will automatically become invalid which means you shall no longer print the old China registration number on your packaging, and replace it with your new China registration number instead. However, if your registration number in your own country remains unchanged, you can still use this registration number on your packaging.
23. What are the consequences if I failed to inform GACC of my changed information in time?
For registered information related to food safety and sanitation control, if a producer is found failing to inform GACC of these changes in time, GACC may request the producer to take rectification measures or even suspend its registration. In order to prevent these consequences, producers shall keep monitoring and managing their registered information, whether by themselves or an entrusted professional agent.
24. What should I do when my registration is due to expire? How can I renew my registration?
GACC has specified a window period for the overseas producers to renew their registration, which is 3-6 months before your registration expires, by when overseas producers shall apply for registration renewal through their initial registration application path which means:
a) If a producer is registered through the recommendation of its competent authority, it still needs to apply for registration renewal through its competent authority.
b) If a producer is registered by itself or through an agent, it still needs to apply for registration renewal by itself or through the agent.
What if I failed to apply for registration renewal by 3-6 months before my registration expires?
If an overseas producer fails to apply for registration renewal within the window period (between 3-6 months before registration expires), GACC shall automatically terminate its registration by the expiry time. For example, a producer’s registration is due to expire at Dec.31st 2022 24:00. If the producer fails to apply for registration renewal within July 1st 2022 to September 30th 2022, then its registration will be automatically become invalid by January 1st 2023 00:00.
What if my registered information changes when I need to apply for registration renewal?
If the registered information changes when the registration is due to expire, the overseas producers shall apply for changing information firstly before applying for registration renewal -- that is another reason why we recommend you to authorize a professional agent to properly manage your registered information. A professional agent will monitor your registered information and apply for information changes or registration renewals ASAP, minimizing risks and delays such as missing the renewal window, thus guaranteeing the continuity of your export.
25. GACC has just announced that my registration is terminated, however a shipment of my goods has reached China right after the termination date in GACC’s announcement. Will these goods be impounded?
Your registration is cancelled by the day when GACC decides its cancellation. For example, if GACC announced that they decide to terminate your registration by March 1st 2022, then no matter when the announcement was made, your registration is terminated on March 1st 2022. So yes, any goods after this date will be impounded because your entry qualification and registration are no longer valid.
26. What if my production plant is found noncompliant with the registration requirements? Will GACC terminate my registration immediately? Or will GACC tell us what shall we do to comply with the requirements?
GACC shall request the noncompliant producers to take rectification measures within a given period of time, and shall clearly inform the producer of ① the problem(s) that is(are) required to be rectified; ② the required materials for GACC’s follow-up inspections; ③ the deadline for the completion of rectification. The producer is not allowed to export goods to China within the rectification period. If the producer fails to complete its rectification with given time, GACC shall then revoke its registration.
To avoid these negative consequences, we suggest the producers constantly do self-inspections with the help of professional compliance consultants. The producers may also seek for profession advices when requested to take rectification, so as to ensure the efficiency of their rectification measures.
27. If my enterprise is required to rectify because it no longer meets the registration requirements, after completing the rectification, by which way should I submit the rectification report and written statement?
According to Article 23’s explanation：When submitting the rectification report and the written statement meeting the registration requirements, it shall be submitted within the specified period through the same way as applying for registration. For example, if the application for registration was submitted by the enterprise itself or entrusted agent, the rectification report and other relevant materials shall be submitted to GACC by the enterprise itself or entrusted agent. So it’s crucial for enterprises to choose a stable and reliable agent.
28. Can other enterprises use the Chinese registration number of the registered enterprises without being authorized by them or confirmed by GACC? If it happens how does GACC deal with it？
No, any enterprises cannot use the others’ Chinese registration number registered. According to Article 24’s explanation：The one who falsely use the other’s registration number will be revoked by our GACC if they have registered number themselves.
The registered enterprise that is falsely used by others can report the situation to GACC through the competent authorities of the country (region) and provide the corresponding supporting materials of being falsely used. After being evaluated and approved by GACC, GACC may maintain the enterprise registration number or issue a new registration number for the enterprise.
29. If my Chinese registration number has been revoked, what consequences should I bear?
According to Article 24’s explanation：For the overseas food producers whose Chinese registration number has been revoked, GACC will not accept the import from them starting from the day when the revocation takes effects. If they have declared but have not completed the process of import, the products shall be returned or destroyed in accordance with relevant regulations.
30. If the countries (regions) exporting food to China has a serious disease/epidemic outbreak or public health incident, will the food enterprises be affected?
According to Article 25’s explanation：Yes, the food enterprises will be affected. If the countries (regions) exporting food to China has serious disease/epidemic outbreak or public health incident, GACC will issue a public announcement suspending food imports from the country/region. During the period, the situation of the epidemic situation and the investigation of public health incident need to be collected and relevant risk assessment need to be conducted. GACC will not accept applications for registration by relevant food manufacturers in the country/region until the risk assessment is completed.
31. Once if there are any epidemic or public sanitation accidents, GACC will suspend the relevant countries’ relevant food exporting, will the producer can still apply for the registration?
No, you cannot. According to GACC’s explanation for the Article 25, if any epidemic or public food sanitation accident happens, before the GACC complete all the necessary risk evaluations, our GACC must not accept any relevant food registration application from this country or area.
32. What department does “the competent authority” refer to?
According to GACC’s explanation about Article 26, competent authority refers to the governmental department who is in charge of the safety and sanitation supervision on the food manufacturer and producers.
This explanation clarifies furthermore that only the governmental department is the competent authority. Our GACC deleted the “organizations authorized by government or industrial institutions”, they are no longer the competent authority.
33. In fact sometimes there are multiple different government departments/agencies in charge of different kinds of food, for example, The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan and The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, FAD, USDA, FSIS and ATF in USA, even in some countries there are different governmental administrative offices in charge of different production process of the same kind food, thus how do we know which agency is our competent authority who can recommend us to apply for the registration with GACC?
Our GACC explains that in practical implementation of this regulation, if competent authority’s responsibilities belong to different official agencies then each corresponding official agency should be separately responsible for their own part and together to accomplish the registration for producers or the country/region can decide one agency to uniformly be responsible for the official recommendation, to assist evaluation and review, supervise and urge domestic enterprises, etc.
34. Article 27 The GACC is responsible for the interpretation of these Regulations.
According to Article 33 of <the Regulations on Making Procedures of the State Council of People’s Republic of China>, the right of interpretation of rules belongs to the rules-making agency. The General Administration of Customs makes this regulation therefore GACC has the right to interpretation of these provisions, and is responsible for the specific explanation on the applicable conditions when needed.
Therefore, the interpretation of the regulatory has the same effect as the regulation.
35. If is there any transition period from the old regulation decree 145 to the new regulation decree 248?
No. when the new Decree 248 comes into force the old Decree 145 will be abolished at once. There is no transition period, all producers should register upon the requirements and regulations of Decree 248.
This Decree 248 is published on 12th April 2021, will come into force from 1st January 2022, GACC has given transition period in compliance with the WTO’s rules.
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