With China seeking to contain its worst COVID-19 situation since its original 2019-2020 outbreak of the virus in Wuhan, the country’s customs authorities have increased penalties for seafood exporters whose packaging tests positive for traces of the virus upon arrival in Chinese ports.
Penalties are getting stiffer than previous one-week bans handed out by Chinese authorities. A system detailing penalty levels has not been released publicly, but harsher penalties handed out recently appear to be related to what extent “inner” and “outer” packaging of individual shipments are found to be infected.
More than 25 companies have been penalized in March alone after traces of COVID-19 were found on packaging of their products after arrival in Chinese ports. The General Administration of Customs China (GACC) announced that traces of COVID-19 were found in 14 instances on external packaging of Ecuadorian seafood imports while also found twice on internal packaging. Twenty-week bans, commencing 22 March, have been placed on Operadora y Procesadora de Productos Marinos Omarsa S.A. as well as on Exportadora Total Seafood Totalseafood S.A. A four week ban on imports has been placed on products from the Empacreci S.A. firm.
Seafood exporters from developing Asian countries have also been hard-hit by the new penalties. Pakistan-based Qadrinoori Enterprises was barred from exporting to China for four weeks while another firm, Pearl Marine International, was handed a one-week ban. Nine Indian exporters – mostly of vannemei shrimp – were sanctioned for one week. Five other Indian seafood firms were banned for two weeks, while one firm was barred from shipping to China for five weeks.
Likewise, three Indonesian firms were each given a one-week ban from importing seafood into China, while a fourth company, CV. JASUMA, was barred from importing into Chinese ports for two weeks. A one-week ban, commencing 22 March, has been placed on imports from Vietnamese pangasius exporter Investment Commerce Fisheries Corporation - INCOMFISH Corporation, Seafood & Foodstuff Processing Factory No. 5, as well as on Hungca 6 Corporation, while another Vietnamese firm, Go Dang Ben Tre One Limited Liability Company, was hit with a nine-week ban.
All chilled food imports arriving in China must go through an inspection and sanitation process. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in its latest position paper pointed to inconsistencies in how various regions of China handle COVID checks on imported perishable foods, which it said is resulting in costly and widescale spoilage of imports when the cold chain is broken during inspections.
The EU Chamber called on China to “plan and implement COVID-19 disinfection measures on imported goods based on scientific principles that are aligned among the General Administration of Customs China (GACC) at the central and local levels, as well as with other related authorities like National Health Commission (NHC) and the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), so that food safety and quality is retained in the process.”
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