Weekly Food Dynamics Brief: Five Export Violations in China Under Scrutiny, Food Policy Adjustments in Singapore, Japan, and Others

In the week from November 11 to November 15, Singapore, Japan and other countries and regions have issued policies and notifications on food. The foreign import and export policies and measures and notification of violations are summarized as follows:

I. Foreign import and export policies and measures

The Food Authority of Singapore (SFA) announced on 14 November 2024 that it has approved the import of processed beef products from Brunei.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued Document 2024-25667 in the Federal Register on November 8, 2024, officially approving the import of fresh Hass avocados from Guatemala.

On November 8, 2024, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan issued the Announcement No. 1108 of Health Food Distribution, based on the inspection results of the past year, decided to delete the relevant content of fluosilazole in carrots produced in China from the monitoring and inspection Schedule 3.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced on November 12 that it will strengthen customs inspections of imported food (raw materials) for the 2024 kimchi season.

II. Notification of export violations

On November 11, 2024, the Amur Regional Branch of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision reported that a quarantine pest was detected in a sample of kiwifruit weighing about 533 kg imported from China.

The EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) notified on November 13, 2024 that the kitchen utensils exported by China were not up to standard. ECHEMI reminds export enterprises that they must strictly comply with the export requirements of the importing countries, ensure that the migration amount of substances in food contact materials meets the standards, and ensure the safety of food and related products to avoid export risks.

On November 14, 2024, the EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) once again notified that China's exports of ginseng extract and edible coatings are not qualified. ECHEMI once again reminds export enterprises that they must strictly comply with the export requirements of the exporting countries, avoid the use of substances not authorized by the EU, and ensure that the migration amount of substances in food contact materials meets the standards, so as to ensure the safety of food and related products and avoid export risks.

South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) notified in October 2024 that frozen red peppers made in China were notified of excessive pesticide residues (mycin), and South Korea's standard for the residue limit of mycin in the product is less than 0.01 mg/kg.

In November 2024, the violation of Chinese food exports to South Korea involved aquatic products, processed food and agricultural and forestry products, etc., and the violation of food and food-related products were returned to the exporting country or discarded.

The European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), in its 45th week of 2024 notification, noted two cases of violations of Chinese food and related products. ECHEMI once again reminded export enterprises that they must strictly comply with the export requirements of the importing countries, pay attention to the existence of various pathogenic bacteria in the products, and check the residues of pesticides in the products to ensure the safety of food and related products and avoid export risks.