State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ)Announcement on Regulating the Examination System for Labeling of Imported and Exported Food Products and Cosmetics (No.44, 2006)

AQSIQ Announcement on Regulating the Examination System for Labeling of Imported and Exported Food Products and Cosmetics (No.44, 2006） 2009-07-02 No.44, 2006 Announcement on Regulating the Examination System for Labeling of Imported and Exported Food Products and Cosmetics In order to carry forward the spirit of the reform on administrative examination and approval of the State Council, simplify procedures, facilitate import and export, the AQSIQ determines to regulate the examination system for labeling of imported and exported food products and cosmetics after deliberation. the regulated examination system for labeling of imported and exported food products and cosmetics is hereby promulgated as follows: 1. Labels of imported food products and cosmetics shall keep in line with provisions prescribed in China’s laws, regulations and compulsory standards (relevant laws, regulations and standards can be founded in the column of the safety of imported and exported food and cosmetics/ the label administration of imported and exported food and cosmetics on AQSIQ’s official website www.aqsiq.gov.cn); while labels of exported food products and cosmetics shall meet requirements of the import countries/regions. 2. The examination of labels of imported and exported food products and cosmetics shall be integrated with the inspection and quarantine of imported and exported food products and cosmetics as of April 1st, 2006. Pre-examination shall no longer be carried out as of the same date. In addition, the application for pre-examination of labels of imported and exported food products and cosmetics shall not be accepted by accepting institutions at all levels as of the same date, meanwhile, entry-exit institutions shall not force applicants to report for inspection and quarantine based on the Certificate of Pre-examination of Imported (Exported) Food Products and Cosmetics. http://www.aqsiq.gov.cn/ 3. When carrying out inspection and quarantine of imported and exported food products and cosmetics, the local entry-exit inspection and quarantine institutions shall check to see whether the contents of labels can meet requirements prescribed in laws, regulations and standards and whether the contents concerning quality are authentic and accurate. For those qualified, the inspection and quarantine institutions shall mark “the label is qualified” on the inspection certification provided according to related provisions. For labels of imported food products and cosmetics attached before October 1st, 2006, that cannot meet requirements in relevant laws and regulations of China and related compulsory standards, alteration shall be conducted under the supervision of entry-exit inspection and quarantine institutions. For those which meet the requirements, clearance shall be undertaken accordingly. As of October 1st, 2006, labels of imported food products and cosmetic failing to meet requirements in relevant laws, regulations and standards shall be dealt with in accordance with provisions in Article 19 of Regulations for the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection; while labels of exported food products and cosmetic failing to meet the requirements of import countries/regions shall be dealt with in accordance with provisions in Article 27 of Regulations for the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection 4. Certificates of Pre-examination of Imported (Exported) Food Products and Cosmetics which have already been obtained shall remain valid. For labels of imported and exported food products are in conformity with contents of the examination certificates, the examination may be exempted. In case a new certificate need to be issued in terms of changing requirements of food labels prescribed in new standards such as the General Standard of the People’s Republic of China for the Labeling of Prepackaged Food Products（GB7718 一 2004）and General Standard of the People’s Republic of China for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods for Special Dietary Uses（GB13432 一 2004）, formalities of recertification shall be gone through according to provisions in the Announcement on Examination and Recertification of the Examination Certificate for Labels of Imported Food Products promulgated by the Imported and Exported Food Label Office under the AQSIQ on December 9th, 2005. The deadline for applying for recertification is May 1st, 2006. Hereafter, certificates failing to meet the changing requirements of labels in laws, regulations or standards shall automatically be null and void. 5. Inspection and Quarantine Institutions shall carry out the inspection and quarantine of imported and exported food products and cosmetics including label examination, test and inspection. All fees shall be paid according to the charging standards for inspection and quarantine, while fees for label examination shall no longer be paid.