Guidelines for Export Customs Clearance of Beef Balls

 

 

Beef ball is one of the most famous delicacies in China. When it comes to beef meatballs, what impresses many people is their portrayal in Stephen Chow's movie " God of Cookery", where their elasticity is so great that they could be used to play table tennis, making them incredibly chewy.

In 2022, beef ball was successfully selected into the catering list of the Beijing Winter Olympics and served to athletes at the Winter Olympics, making its well-known snacks famous abroad. Food carries longing, its fragrance spreading both at home and abroad. With the rapid development of Internet e-commerce and cold chain logistics, the export business of beef balls is also continuously expanding.

I. Production process of beef balls

Judging from the raw materials of beef balls, there are 3 types of Chaoshan beef balls commonly seen in the market, such as Shantou beef balls, Chaozhou beef balls and flavored beef balls.

Shantou Beef Balls (standard: DBS44/005-2016) takes fresh and frozen cut beef as raw materials (beef content is more than 90%), with an appropriate amount of water, edible salt, starch and other minor ingredients added.

Chaozhou Beef Balls (standard: T/CZBXBZ 01-2021) are made of fresh and frozen cut beef as raw materials (with beef content not less than 80%), without other animal meat, added with an appropriate amount of water, edible salt, monosodium glutamate, edible starch and one or more of other minor ingredients (including sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium bicarbonate and other food additives), without non-meat protein such as soybean protein.

In addition to beef and other minor ingredients, pork, chicken or duck are also added to Flavored Beef Balls to enhance the flavor.

There are two ways to make Chaoshan Beef Balls: traditional hand-made and mechanical production. Traditional hand-made beef balls are primarily made from hot fresh beef, which retains the inherent "fresh" and "fragrant" flavors of the meat, offering a tender and smooth texture. In contrast, mechanically produced beef balls may include a mix of chilled or frozen meat. The typical production process involves: meat selection - cutting - chopping into small pieces - grinding - pulping - adding seasonings - molding - boiling - cooling - vacuum packaging - quick freezing.

Traditional hand-made: The processed fresh beef is repeatedly beat with an iron rod at a frequency of 3-4 times per second until the beef turns from bright red to pink. The beaten meat paste is delicate and sticky without falling off, and then it is made into balls. Hand-made meat is compact, high elastic and chewy.

Mechanical production: The beef is ground up with a meat grinder, then put into the pulp beater for beating, and finally put into the molding machine to realize mechanized production of beef balls. There is a curing tank under the molding machine to realize automatic curing. High-speed pulp beaters are usually used, with hot fresh and frozen meat as raw materials, of which the amount of frozen meat is less than 50%.

II. Customs supervision and administration of beef balls

The customs shall supervise and manage the export of beef balls. Measures include: filing of production enterprises, enterprise verification, document review, on-site inspection, supervision and sampling inspection, etc.

(I) Qualification of production enterprise

1. Filing: The export beef balls production enterprises shall file with the local customs.

Enterprises can apply for customs filing online: The applicant logs in to the "Internet + Customs" integrated platform (http://online.customs.gov.cn), or files an application and uploads 1 electronic scanned copy of the "Application for Filing of Export Food Manufacturers" to the customs office at its domicile through the "Recording Management System for China Exported Food Producers" (http://qgs.customs.gov.cn:10081/efpe). Enterprises can also go through the on-site windows of the competent customs business.

2. Foreign registration: If a foreign country (region) implements the registration administration of beef ball production enterprises in China, the enterprise must apply to the local customs. The local customs shall report it to the General Administration of Customs after preliminary examination, and the General Administration of Customs will organize the foreign recommendation registration. At present, major trading countries such as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea require registration of imported beef products.

The external registration of export beef ball enterprises can be handled online: the applicant enterprise logs in to the "Recording Management System for China Exported Food Producers" (http://qgs.customs.gov.cn:10081/effe), clicks the corresponding application items from the "External Registration Recommendation" option on the main page after login, and fills in relevant information and uploads relevant application materials according to the system prompts. Enterprises are required to provide relevant materials in accordance with the requirements of Announcement No. 87 [2021] of GACC (Announcement on Issuing the Administrative Measures for Application for Overseas Registration by Export Food Manufacturers). Enterprises can also go through the on-site windows of the competent customs business.

(II) Enterprise's self-control requirements for product quality

The beef ball production enterprises shall comply with the Safety and Sanitation Requirements for Export Food Production Enterprises and other relevant specifications.

1. Establish relevant systems. Establish and effectively operate the food safety and hygiene control system, establish a sound traceability system, supplier evaluation system, incoming inspection record system, production record file system, ex-factory inspection record system and nonconforming food disposal system, so as to ensure that its exported beef balls meet the standards of importing countries (regions), contract requirements and China's national food safety standards.

2. Raw material management. The beef raw materials for the production of beef balls and beef jerky shall come from export meat slaughtering, processing and production enterprises registered with the customs or imported beef that has passed inspection and quarantine. The list of export meat processing and production enterprises filed by the customs can be inquired online: portal website of the General Administration of Customs-profile of the General Administration of Customs-substation of departments and bureaus-Department of Enterprise Management and Inspection-information service-filing list of export food examination enterprises.

(III) Customs inspection and quarantine regulations

The customs shall supervise and inspect the operation of the safety and health control system of beef ball production enterprises, and carry out on-site inspection, supervision and sampling inspection on beef balls declared for export according to law.

1. Sampling inspection for supervision of export food safety. For the beef balls instructed to be sampled for inspection, detect additives (sorbic acid and nitrite) and microorganisms (Escherichia coli, coliform group, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella).

2. Risk monitoring of export food safety. For raw materials of beef balls, toxic and harmful substances such as veterinary drug residues (florfenicol, thiamphenicol and chloramphenicol) and pollutants (cadmium, mercury, lead and arsenic) in beef shall be monitored according to the risk monitoring plan for import and export food safety.

3. Other monitoring requirements. The monitoring shall be carried out as required. For example, if the raw materials and minor ingredients for processing beef balls contain other meat ingredients, it is necessary to monitor whether there are other meat epidemic diseases (if pork is contained, it is necessary to monitor whether it contains African swine fever virus), and the toxic and harmful substances in the raw materials and minor ingredients of beef balls shall also be monitored.

 

 

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Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of this website. The Chinese version shall prevail.