Northwest Horticultural Council

Country Alerts

China Implements New Registration Requirement for Exporters

Current situation: The General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) issued Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Overseas Producers of Imported Food (Decree 248) that is scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2022. It remains unclear whether this decree applies to apple, pear, and cherry packers.

Caution is advised if you are planning to ship to China for arrival in January. There is the potential for delays on arrival given the uncertainty associated with Decree 248.

Over the past year, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) have sought clarification on the registration process for the produce industry. GACC has not provided guidance to confirm or deny that fresh fruit packers are subject to Decree 248.

On November 16, USTR reiterated its current interpretation that, according to Decree 248 Article 11, apple, pear, and cherry packers are exempt from this new registration process as they are already registered with GACC per phytosanitary work plan requirements. This USTR interpretation has not been confirmed by China.

For products that may require self-registration (such as fresh fruits), the GACC registration website portal came online November 3. The portal is in Chinese and still in the building process; users trying to use the portal report that they are often unable to complete the registration due to portal malfunctions. FAS Beijing produced an unofficial self-registration guide for overseas facilities published in FAS GAIN report CH2021-135 located here. Packers may want to consider this option.

USTR and FAS continue to press GACC for clarification on registration requirements and further updates will be provided as new information is received.

Background: Northwest Horticultural Council discussions with FAS began in 2020 regarding China’s intent to require registration of overseas production facilities. Decree 248 was published April 12, 2021. As recently as October 2021, FAS guidance was that apple, pear, and cherry packing facilities should be exempted under Article 11 of the Decree as all packers are registered annually with GACC through USDA Animal and Plant Health and Inspection Service (APHIS). At present, FAS is directing packers to contact GACC representatives directly for information.

FAS GAIN report CH2021-135 (published November 10) provides guidance for those who may contemplate registering with GACC.

Posted: 11/16/2021

Northwest Horticultural Council

Country Alerts

Egypt Launches Single Window Pre-Clearance System

Current situation: Egypt’s Ministry of Finance issued Decree 38/2021 for pre-shipment registration under the National Single Window for Foreign Trade Facilitation (Nafeza) system.  Full implementation is expected by October 1, 2021.  Both U.S. exporters and Egyptian importers must register with Nafeza to obtain unique identification numbers. After a Nafeza number is assigned both the importer and exporter will have access to training materials and the importer will be able to register an export shipment.

After Nafeza registration shipments may commence.  The new Advance Cargo Information (ACI) system will be used to track individual shipments and requires importers to obtain an identification number for each shipment, called an Advanced Cargo Identification ID (ACID) number.  Egyptian importers will apply for an ACID number and an automatic email will be sent to the U.S. exporter to provide shipment information – within 48 hours of export departure.  Exporters are encouraged to work with their Egyptian importers to provide the proper documents.

 A Single Window Customs Initiative

The new single-window system is administered by Misr Technology Services (MTS) and seeks to modernize and automate customs administration, simplify procedures, and reduce clearance times. The decree requires that consignment documents for Egyptian agencies at ports of entry including Customs, General Organization for Import & Export Control (GOEIC), National Food Safety Authority, and the Ministry of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine and Veterinary Services must be submitted by the importer through the single window system 48 hours prior to shipment arrival.

The new system was launched on April 1, 2021.  The first users of this system have encountered difficulties normally associated with a new launch of this type.  MTS is actively addressing functional difficulties as they become aware.  See USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) GAIN Report, Egypt Launches Single Window Pre-Clearance System here.

New fees associated with each shipment are estimated at approximately $65, however, these fees should be offset by the elimination of previously required document legalization fees, exceeding $400.

For more information, see July 25, 2021, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service GAIN report here.

Updated: 8/23/2021

Northwest Horticultural Council

Country Alerts

Korea Increases Number of Pesticide Residues Tested for 2021

Current Situation: Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) will test initial shipments of cherries arriving this year for pesticide residues for every packing house shipping to Korea. Packers need to submit an MRL test from every packing house they operate for six pesticide residues, listed below. South Korea will additionally test for residues of any pesticide for which MRLs (from the list of 65 pesticides that Korea has been testing for since 2020; found HERE) have been lowered over the past year. Under a normal inspection program, Korea’s Ministry of Food & Drug Safety (MFDS) requires testing of chemicals that have had non-compliance violations, but this year MFDS added testing of six active ingredients due to the third country market intelligence. MFDS usually updates the 65 chemical list every year by adding or removing new residues based upon violation records. If test results are found to be in compliance with Korea’s MRL standards, no further testing will be required.

The six new chemicals MFDS will test for are listed, below, along with the US and Korean MRLs for these materials:

Korea included these six new MRLs because they are aware of reported residue concerns on cherries for these chemicals in other countries within the region.  Korea is known to watch other markets, and if there is a residue issue, they will add it to their own testing list.  They likewise will add chemicals to their testing list if they lower an MRL and want to make sure new residues are compliant.

The tests are to be conducted on a packing house/exporter basis and not a combination of a packing house and an importer, as done in years past. According to MFDS, if packing house XX passes the first testing, then the result will be saved in MFDS’s computerized import inspection system and this computer system will automatically classify future shipments from packing house XX to products subject to document inspection.  When a new importer imports cherries from packing house XX, no testing will be required.

Although this is not welcome news, it appears to be only a single test on initial shipments.

The California industry has impressed upon the U.S. Embassy in Seoul that cherries are highly perishable, and that a quick turn around on tests results is needed so that shipments may be released.

Contact: If you have any questions, please contact Northwest Horticultural Council vice president for scientific affairs, David Epstein, at 509-654-3713.

Updated: 6/17/2021

Northwest Horticultural Council

Country Alerts

Taiwan Increases Pesticide MRL Inspections

Current Situation: As of March 15, 2021, Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has increased pesticide MRL inspection of U.S. apple imports to 20-50 percent of shipments.  There have been nine non-compliance pesticide residue violations within the past six months, and a total of 13 violations since April 2019.  Shippers are advised to be vigilant with product bound for Taiwan during this period.

If any importer importing a product under the same HS code product from the same origin has further detections, TFDA will inspect 100 percent of that importer’s shipments. This is now the case for one importer.

Increased inspection rates of 20 – 50 percent are expected through at least September 14, 2021. However, these increased rates may extend to a full six-month period following the last non-compliance violation. USDA Foreign Agriculture Service is still confirming how long the increased inspection rate period will last.

If there are no further detections during this six-month observation period, TFDA will revert to the standard testing rate of 2-10 percent.

Most recently, notices for two additional violations for the fungicide pyrimethanil (Penbotec) (MRL of 7ppm) were published on May 11, 2021.

Previous violations were:

• Three for pyrimethanil (MRL of 7 ppm) since December 2020.
• Four non-compliance violations for pyrimethanil between April 2019 and March of 2020.
• One for the fungicide Penthiopyrad (Fontelis), for which there is no established MRL.
• Three for the insecticide cyantraniliprole (Exirel) for which there is no established MRL.

Contact: If you have any questions, please contact Northwest Horticultural Council vice president for scientific affairs, David Epstein, at 509-654-3713.

Updated: 5/12/2021

Northwest Horticultural Council

Country Alerts

Thailand is Banning Chlorpyrifos Residues on Imported Food  June 1, 2021

Current Situation: June 1, 2021 the MRL for both Chlorpyrifos will be the level of detection, 0.01ppm.

Background:

Contact: If you have any questions, please contact David Epstein, vice president for scientific affairs, Northwest Horticultural Council at 509-453-3193.

Updated: 11/3/2020

Northwest Horticultural Council

Current Open Staff Positions

• Technical Communications Manager – Posted July 12, 2021 – Open until filled

Northwest Horticultural Council

U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)

On September 30, 2018, Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America reached an agreement to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  The new agreement, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), will enter into effect only after legislative approval in each country and at some future, yet to be determined, implementation date.

The Northwest Horticultural Council supports ratification by Congress of the USMCA. The trade agreement achieves the NHC’s principle negotiating objectives and provides a solid foundation from which Pacific Northwest tree fruit growers, packers, and shippers will continue their positive and overwhelmingly beneficial trading relationship with customers in these critically important countries.  

The text of the agreement may be found here.  A fact sheet describing the USMCA as it pertains to agriculture may be found here.