To export seafood to China, companies that produce, process, or store products must be registered and approved by Chinese authorities. Additionally, there are requirements that the species to be exported from Norway must be approved by the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC).

Changes in the registration process

In September, GACC introduced a change in the listing process done in China Import Food Enterprises Registration (CIFER). Now, producers no longer need to register for specific product numbers or species, simplifying the process and reducing the amount of information required. For producers already registered, the approval now applies to all approved Norwegian species to China, without separate approval dates for each product.

We have previously written about the change in the listing process on our market access news pages, which can be found here.

Which products are approved?

Companies that are approved can now export all species listed on GACC's list of approved products (see the list here: http://43.248.49.223). Exporters are responsible for ensuring that the products they wish to export are included on this list. By following the link to the list, you will find information (in Chinese) about aquatic products in note 3, which, according to the information available to the Norwegian Seafood Council and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, seems to be interpreted as follows:

  • If a product is approved as fresh, it is also approved for other methods, such as frozen or dried.
  • If a product is approved as frozen, it may have been processed in various ways but must be frozen before export.
  • All edible parts of approved species are allowed for import, but if the species is only approved as frozen, the product must be exported in a frozen state

As a result of this interpretation, both frozen and fresh products that are further processed can be considered approved, as long as the final product is in fresh or frozen form.

Additionally, the approval applies to all edible parts of a species, as long as the species is approved. For example, frozen herring roe can be exported because herring (Clupea harengus) is approved both as fresh and frozen. Cod milt is another example; it can also be considered approved since Norway has approval for both fresh and frozen cod (Gadus morhua).

The Norwegian Seafood Council still recommends having good communication with Chinese importers to the extent there is uncertainty about whether the products to be exported are approved. Note that the list refers to the export of "non-living species"; there is a separate list for living species. We have previously mentioned the approval list for China, and you can find more information here.