How Much Do You Know About the Inspection and Quarantine of Imported Steak?

 

 

With the improvement of people's living standards, steak, as a premium ingredient in western cuisine, is increasingly becoming a part of everyday life. As an animal food derived from artificial feeding, pollutants such as heavy metals and dioxins, veterinary drug residues such as ractopamine and salbutamol, epidemic diseases such as zoonoses, mad cow disease (BSE), brucellosis and spoilage are several major risks that threaten human health.

To ensure that consumers can freely enjoy delicious imported steaks, customs has established three checkpoints during the entry inspection and quarantine process of the steaks, providing a "triple guarantee" for the food safety of imported steaks.

"Entry barrier" for imported steak

Not all countries can import steak into our country.

First, overseas countries (regions) that export beef to China must pass the food safety management system assessment and examination implemented by the GACC. Those countries with a higher risk of pandemics or other safety risks will be blocked from the list. Second, the registration and filing of relevant enterprises, including overseas manufacturer registration, overseas exporter filing and domestic consignee filing. Among them, the most critical part should be the registration of overseas manufacturers. The overseas manufacturers of steak need to be recommended for registration by the competent authority of the country (region) where they are located to the GACC. According to the evaluation and examination, the General Administration of Customs will register the overseas manufacturing enterprises of imported food that meet the requirements and give them a registration number in China, with a validity period of 5 years. The GACC will regularly update the list of registered meat product manufacturers.

The Customs office shall exercise quarantine approval management of imported food subject to imported animal and plant quarantine approval. Importers of steak shall go through the examination and approval procedures before signing a trade contract or agreement to obtain an Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit with a validity period of one year.

"Inspection barrier" for imported steak

After the imported steak arrives at China's ports and is declared for import as required, it will be subject to combined inspection such as data review, on-site inspection and sampling inspection.

First of all, the certificate of conformity and relevant documents attached to the import declaration shall be checked and reviewed. The focus is on whether the imported steak comes from countries (regions) and enterprises that are allowed to export to China, and whether the imported specifications and varieties are consistent with those approved in the early stage of quarantine.

After entering the on-site inspection link, attention shall be paid to whether there is spoilage and abnormal storage temperature during transportation. At the same time, for imported fresh frozen meat products, the inner and outer packages shall have firm, clear and legible marks in Chinese, English or Chinese and the text of the exporting country (region), and indicate the contents that should be marked on the inner and outer packages.

Sampling inspection is based on China's statutory inspection and quarantine requirements, national food safety standards, bilateral protocols, early warning notifications issued by the GACC, etc. It is carried out in accordance with the annual national import food safety supervision and sampling inspection plan and special import food safety supervision and sampling inspection plan formulated by the customs, focusing on the detection of pesticide and veterinary drug residues, environmental pollutants, pathogenic microorganisms, animal epidemic diseases and parasites in imported beef steak.

"Tracking barrier" of imported steak

For imported steaks that have passed inspection and quarantine, the customs will also implement continuous follow-up management by supervising importers of imported food.

Through regular inspection, customs will focus on checking whether steak importers have established a standardized and effective food import and sales record system, truthfully recorded the name of food, net content/specifications, quantity, production date, production or import batch number, shelf life, names, addresses and contact information of overseas exporters and purchasers, delivery dates, etc., and kept relevant documents.

The customs requires that the importer's records and documents shall be kept at least six months after the expiration of the shelf life; if there is no clear shelf life, the retention period shall be more than 2 years after sale. Meanwhile, Customs requires food importers to establish an audit system for overseas exporters and overseas production enterprises, focusing on the formulation and implementation of food safety risk control measures and ensuring that food complies with Chinese laws and regulations and national food safety standards.

The customs has established a comprehensive, multi-dimensional regulatory system encompassing inspection and quarantine measures for imported steaks before, during, and after entry, safeguarding the safety of these imports. Based on the analysis of food safety sampling monitoring data in recent years and domestic market feedback, we can trust the quality and safety of beefsteak imported from formal channels that have passed inspection and quarantine. Consumers can freely enjoy it.

 

 

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