China is canceling strict Covid-19 prevention import procedures. Inspection and quarantine are no longer required for goods upon arrival. This is a great opportunity for Vietnam’s exports, especially seafood, to penetrate this large market.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), local governments and Chinese ports are canceling strict Covid-19 prevention import procedures such as testing, sterilization and inspection. under the new policy. Inspection and quarantine are no longer required for goods upon arrival, and products are instead moved through normal import channels.
Accordingly, officials in Hubei province will immediately stop testing nucleic acids for “cold chain foods”, as well as at slaughterhouses, processing, storage and transport plants. The Hubei government said that the decision to relax import measures must be in accordance with the directives of the central government. In Changzhou, the local food import control task force said it would immediately close down “centrally regulated cold storage”. Meanwhile, at the port of Shanghai, some specific imported meat and seafood products must continue to be controlled by testing for the virus. For other seafood and meat, the port will suspend 50% inspection on arrival and 100% inspection on imports from Canada.
The new changes in import policy are good news for Chinese seafood importers as the cost of imports will be significantly reduced. Previously, Chinese importers had to bear the cost of testing per container that could exceed 10,000 yuan ($1,430). The easing of epidemic prevention policies will also shorten the time to wait for customs clearance due to many uncertainties about orders being refused during this period.
China’s seafood consumption will recover, grow and is expected to be fully back to normal before the Spring Festival on January 22, 2023. Seafood consumption in China is expected to return to normal before the Lunar New Year, as most seafood is consumed at restaurants and hotels.
The easing of policies, including the elimination of inspection and sterilization for imported food, will ease pressure on importers and processors, and benefit cash flow. Therefore, both re-export processing enterprises and direct importers will receive many new orders.
The easing of epidemic control for Chinese imports will create great opportunities for Vietnamese goods, especially seafood, to enter this market.
According to VASEP, China and Hong Kong are the largest seafood consumers of Vietnam, with an increase of more than 70% this year compared to the same period last year. Therefore, this market is assessed as potential in the context of the world economy entering a recession and the decline in consumption in some traditional markets such as the EU and the US.
According to Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of VASEP, in the 10 months of 2022 alone, despite applying the Zero Covid policy, the country still imported 15 billion USD of seafood products, higher than the whole year of 2021. This shows the demand. China’s seafood demand is increasing and businesses need to invest efforts in this market in the near future.
Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe said that with the current advantage, in the coming time, it is necessary to have special measures to market to the Chinese market more effectively than now. In which, setting up a direct selling agency of Vietnamese people. However, it is necessary to consider which location is suitable for implementation.
“After nearly 1 year of Order 248 – Regulations on management of registration of foreign food production enterprises, which took effect, as of December 5, 2022, there were 2,426 product codes licensed to be imported into Vietnam. In which, 1,236 product codes belong to the group of 18 items registered through the competent authority (accounting for 50.9%) and the rest 1,190 product codes are not on the list that must be registered through the competent authority. Among these two groups, the seafood products are approved by China Customs the most.”
