Workers process tra fish for export at an establishment of Sao Mai Group in the southern province of Dong Thap. (Photo: VNA) China’sregulations on the registration and administration of overseas producers ofimported food (Degree 248) entered into force on January 1 this year. Themeasure requires all overseas food manufacturers, processors, and storagefacilities to be registered with the Chinese authorities to export products toChina. The measure covers all food products except food additives.
Ata recent conference to remove difficulties for exporting agricultural, forestryand fishery products to China, domestic exporters said they could not registeronline to meet the regulations, though the registration has been implementedfor five months.
Representativesof NTSF Seafood Joint Stock Company said the company couldn’t register eventhough it was granted an online registration account from competent authoritiesand followed the guidance.
Meanwhile,a representative of Hai Viet Joint Stock Company said although the companysuccessfully registered in 2021 and was named on a list of 779 seafoodprocessing enterprises that have been allowed to export goods to China, itcouldn’t export due to hindrances in customs declarations.
Anotherseafood exporter said they faced difficulties in declaring HS codes as theChinese code is different from that of Vietnam and is very complicated.
Accordingto the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad),Vietnam's HS code has 10 numbers while China's has 13 numbers, of whichthree numbers are CIQ (China Inspection and Quarantine). ManyVietnamese exporters find it difficult to identify CIQ so they fill in thewrong digits, meaning their goods fail customs clearance.
Inorder to facilitate export declarations, Le Ba Anh, deputy director of Nafiqad,suggested that if Vietnamese exporters already had partners in China,they should ask for assistance in identifying HS codes as Chineseenterprises themselves understand the new customs system.
Inaddition, Anh advised exporters to make written requests and send them toNafiqad's office or other Vietnamese agencies when there are anydifficulties, who will send them on to the Chinese side for considerationand settlement as quickly as possible.
However,Anh noted, that Vietnamese authorities had worked with Chinese partners manytimes to find solutions to overcome HS code difficulties for Vietnameseexporters. However, even the Chinese side admitted that technical errorswere very common as the software was new.
Accordingto Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, regarding theregistration of enterprises exporting to China under Decree 248, Chinesecustoms so far approved 1,853 codes for Vietnamese enterprises.
Toimprove registration, the ministry will continually strengthen informationexchange with Chinese customs to remove technical problems whenregistering on the Chinese customs' one-stop portal, as wellas avoiding delays in granting codes for plant-origin products ofVietnamese enterprises./.
VNA
