China Decree 248 Adds an Extra Step to Trade Transactions

On January 1, 2022, China’s Foreign Food Facility registration requirements go into effect. Decree 248 was announced by China’s General Administration of Customs and requires that all overseas food manufacturers, processors, and storage facilities of food products exported to China submit registration details. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is encouraging exporters to comply to avoid potential trade disruption. This is a new requirement and there will likely be a bumpy initiation period as this goes into effect. Our sense is that once the paperwork is done, this will be a pretty straightforward registration process and should not be too complicated. It’s critical that any exporters selling dry beans to China comply with this requirement as this decree does cover pulses, including dry beans. The site to complete your registration is: https://new.singlewindow.cn/. We are not sure if this is available in English at this time which will be an additional complicating factor. If you need help or have additional questions you can contact our rep in China, Mr. Xu Fang at [email protected].