China News Service, September 8 According to the website of the General Administration of Customs, on September 8, the 2020 Meat Industry Development Conference was held in Qingdao.

The heads of relevant departments and bureaus of the General Administration of Customs stated at the meeting that with the development of the new crown pneumonia epidemic abroad, the risk of contamination of cold chain links has increased. The General Administration of Customs insists on moving forward the customs and adopts communication and consultation with exporting countries (regions). A series of measures such as remote video inspection of food exporting companies and dynamic management of companies that have experienced the epidemic have continuously strengthened source control to ensure the safety of imported cold chain food.

  After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, the General Administration of Customs sent a letter to the competent authorities of 105 countries (regions) involved in the export of cold chain food to China, and held a video conference with competent national (regional) The relevant guidelines issued by the Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) implement effective supervision; guide and urge food exporting companies to implement the guidelines for enterprises issued by FAO and WHO, strengthen employee protection, and prevent the new crown virus from contaminating food and food at the source. Packaging ensures the effective operation of the food safety management system.

As of September 7, the General Administration of Customs has held 121 video conferences with 99 countries (regions), and China's initiative has received extensive support and response from exporting countries.

  In order to ensure the implementation of source control measures, the General Administration of Customs has strengthened supervision and inspection, and conducted remote spot checks on the implementation of relevant FAO and WHO guidelines and the operation of the food management system by overseas authorities and enterprises through a video inspection system.

Each inspection shall verify the implementation of relevant prevention and control policies and measures at the three levels of the country (region), official authorities, and enterprises, focusing on key areas with dense populations such as factory entrances, workshops, and staff canteens.

  As of September 7, the General Administration of Customs had spot-checked 76 meat, aquatic products, dairy products, and frozen fruit companies in 30 countries (regions).

According to random inspections, the competent authorities and enterprises of exporting countries (regions) actively fulfill their commitments, strengthen source control, and strictly prevent pollution risks.

However, some companies have problems such as improper wearing of masks and gloves, insufficient hand-washing time, and insufficient disinfection measures. The companies sampled have promised to actively rectify and reform. The competent authorities of exporting countries (regions) also indicated that they will urge all food companies exporting to China to conduct random checks. Self-examination shall be carried out on the problems found to ensure that they fully comply with the relevant regulations of safety protection.

Data map: Citizens choose aquatic products in supermarkets.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Jiang Qiming

  In addition, the General Administration of Customs closely follows the epidemic situation of overseas cold chain food companies, analyzes potential safety risks, and takes risk prevention measures in a timely manner in response to the occurrence of cluster infections in some cold chain food manufacturers in some countries (regions).

As of September 7, the General Administration of Customs has imposed import suspension measures on 56 cold chain food companies in 19 countries where employees have contracted new crown pneumonia. Among them, 41 companies have independently suspended exports to China.

  Customs across the country carried out new coronavirus risk monitoring on imported cold chain food. As of September 7, more than 500,000 samples were sampled and tested, covering product samples, internal and external packaging samples, and container inner walls.

Among these samples, on July 3, Dalian Customs and Xiamen Customs detected positive for the new coronavirus nucleic acid from 3 samples from the inner wall of a container and 5 samples from the outer packaging of 3 companies in Ecuador. The other samples were all negative.

  The General Administration of Customs stated that China Customs will continue to strengthen cooperation with the competent authorities of exporting countries (regions), strengthen source control, and strictly prevent imported cold chain foods including meat from being exposed to the new crown virus and other poisons during the production, processing, storage and transportation. Harmful substance pollution, strengthen port risk monitoring, severely crack down on illegal activities, ensure the safety of imported food, and actively promote trade facilitation.

Supervise and promote exporters to fulfill their responsibilities, actively conduct audits of overseas exporters and overseas production enterprises, and strictly prohibit the import of products that do not comply with my country's laws and regulations and national food safety standards to ensure imported food safety and enhance consumer confidence.

  China is a big meat importer.

The General Administration of Customs, in accordance with the provisions of the Food Safety Law and the principle of “prevention first, risk management, full control, and international co-governance”, promotes the whole chain of supervision, builds an international co-governance pattern, and guarantees the safety of imported food.

At the same time, actively promote the reform of "delegation, regulation and service", adopting the opinions of the competent authorities of countries (regions) with sound food safety management systems and good food safety supervision responsibilities, registering their recommended companies, and passing post-event on-site inspections and video inspections Spot checks at the ports of imported products to verify the continuous and effective operation of the management system.

If problems are discovered, depending on the severity of the problem, measures such as cessation of acceptance, cancellation or suspension of the registration qualification of the recommended company, or suspension of export to China, etc. shall be taken.

  Up to now, China has approved the import of 7 meat products including pigs, cattle, sheep, poultry, deer, horses and donkeys from 2020 companies in 38 countries (regions).

China's total meat imports have increased from 2.792 million tons in 2014 to 6.1782 million tons in 2019, an increase of 121.28% in the past five years.

Imports of 6.58 million tons in the first eight months of this year have exceeded the total imports of last year.

  Since 2019, the General Administration of Customs has suspended exports of Polish poultry, Hungarian poultry, Irish beef, and Kazakhstan mutton to China, and has cancelled or suspended registration qualifications for 60 companies that fail to fulfill their main responsibilities. And other measures, and implemented measures to return or destroy 169 batches of meat that did not meet the requirements of my country’s food safety laws and regulations and national food safety standards.