Uzbekistan chicken feet export to China GACC registration

General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China 

Announcement No. 61 of 2023

In accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of China and the provisions agreed upon by the General Administration of Customs (GACC) of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the inspection, quarantine and veterinary health requirements for poultry meat imported from Uzbekistan to China, the import of poultry meat from Uzbekistan meeting the following relevant requirements is allowed as of the date of issuance:

I. Inspection and Quarantine Basis

Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China and its Implementation Regulations, Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine and its Implementation Regulations, Import and Export Commodity Inspection Law of the People's Republic of China and its Implementation Regulations, Special Provisions of the State Council on Strengthening Supervision and Administration of Food Safety and other products, Measures for Supervision and Administration of Safety of Import and Export Food of the People's Republic of China, Regulations on Registration Administration of Overseas Manufacturers of Imported Food of the People’s Republic of China, etc.

The Agreed Protocol between the GACC and the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan on Veterinary Health Requirements for Frozen Poultry Meat Exported from Uzbekistan to China.

II. Products Allowed for Import

The allowed poultry meat refers to edible frozen poultry carcasses (the edible parts of poultry bodies after slaughter, bleeding, de-feathering and evisceration, with heads, wings and feet removed) and cut parts and by-products (allowed edible poultry by-products include: frozen chicken wings, frozen chicken claws).

III. Requirements for Production Enterprises

The enterprises that export frozen poultry meat to China (including slaughtering, cutting, processing and storage enterprises) shall comply with the requirements of relevant veterinary health and public health regulations of China and Uzbekistan under the supervision of Uzbekistan authorities.

According to the requirements of the Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Implementation Regulations of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine, enterprises exporting poultry meat to China shall be registered with the GACC. Enterprises that have not been registered or do not meet the requirements of the laws and regulations of China and Uzbekistan shall not export poultry meat to China.

IV. Inspection and Quarantine Requirements

Uzbekistan confirms that in accordance with the requirements of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), Uzbekistan is free from highly pathogenic avian influenza and Newcastle disease.

1. Hatched, raised and slaughtered in Uzbekistan, never mixed with other captive animals, traceable back to the farm of origin.

2. Originating from farms that have not had any outbreaks of avian mycoplasmosis, avian chlamydiosis, infectious bronchitis, infectious laryngotracheitis, infectious bursal disease, low pathogenic avian influenza, Marek's disease, avian tuberculosis, fowl cholera, Staphylococcus aureus infection, viral arthritis and Salmonella pullorum infection in the past 6 months.

3. Originating from farms that have not been subjected to quarantine surveillance or movement restrictions due to the outbreaks of other notifiable avian diseases specified by China, Uzbekistan and WOAH in the past 6 months.

1. Carry out ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection and quarantine on live poultry used for production of exported frozen poultry meat in accordance with relevant laws and regulations of China and Uzbekistan.

2. All slaughtered poultry shall be healthy, with no clinical signs of any infectious disease, and the carcasses and viscera shall have no pathological changes.

3. The residue levels of veterinary drugs, pesticides, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants and other toxic and hazardous substances shall not exceed the maximum residue limits prescribed by China and Uzbekistan.

4. The products shall not be contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms and shall meet the requirements of the laws, regulations and international standards of China and Uzbekistan.

5. The products shall be hygienic, safe and fit for human consumption.

There shall be designated areas in the cold stores for storing poultry meat exported to China, and they shall be clearly identified.

V. Certificate Requirements

Each shipping container of frozen poultry meat exported to China shall be accompanied by at least one original official veterinary health certificate, certifying that the products meet the relevant provisions of the veterinary and public health laws and regulations of China and Uzbekistan as well as the bilateral agreed protocol.

The veterinary health certificates shall be printed or completed in Chinese, Uzbek and English (English is required). The format and content of the certificates shall be mutually recognized by both parties in advance.

VI. Packaging, Storage and Transportation Requirements

The frozen poultry meat exported to China must be packaged with completely new materials that meet the requirements of China's national food safety standards and international health standards. The products shall have separate inner packaging labeled in Chinese with the product name (product description), country of origin, registration number of the production enterprise, and production batch number. The outer packaging shall be labeled in Chinese with the country of origin, product name, product specifications, place of origin (specific to state/province/city), registration number of the production enterprise, production batch number, destination (destination shall be marked as the People's Republic of China), production date (year/month/day), shelf life, storage temperature, and other contents, and affixed with the inspection and quarantine mark of Uzbekistan registered and approved by the Chinese side. Pre-packaged frozen poultry meat shall also meet the requirements of China's laws, regulations and standards on pre-packaged food labels.

The entire process from packaging, storage to transportation shall comply with the relevant sanitary requirements of China and Uzbekistan to prevent contamination by hazardous substances. The storage and transportation of frozen poultry meat shall be at the appropriate temperature conditions, and the core temperature of products shall not exceed -15°C.

After loading into containers, lead seals supervised by Uzbekistan’s official veterinarians shall be affixed before transportation, and the lead seal numbers shall be specified in the veterinary health certificates. Packaging shall not be opened or replaced during transportation.

VII. Requirements for Edible Poultry By-Products

1. The edible poultry by-products exported to China shall come from farms, slaughterhouses and processing plants that have established traceability systems to ensure traceability back to the farms.

2. Only poultry meat enterprises registered with the Chinese side are allowed to export edible poultry by-products to China, and their dedicated processing workshops for poultry by-products must also be approved by the Chinese side.

3. The edible poultry by-products exported to China shall originate from animals that are under the national residue monitoring program of Uzbekistan.

4. All edible poultry by-products exported to China shall be processed and handled according to the requirements for human edible meat products, and relevant quality and safety control systems (such as HACCP) shall be established to ensure compliance with the requirements of relevant clauses herein.

1. Requirements for processing facilities and equipment. Edible poultry by-products exported to China shall have separate processing areas, relatively isolated from those for non-edible by-products. The processing workshops and hygiene conditions shall meet Uzbekistan’s sanitary standards for edible meat products. The size of the workshops shall match the slaughtering and processing capacity, the equipment and facilities shall meet hygiene requirements, the process layout shall separate clean and dirty areas, the procedures shall be reasonable to avoid cross contamination. If pre-cooling is implemented, there shall be dedicated pre-cooling facilities and packaging rooms for edible poultry by-products exported to China.

2. Personnel hygiene requirements. Production and processing enterprises shall assign corresponding personnel according to the processing procedures of edible poultry by-products. Personnel in meat, edible poultry by-products processing areas and processing areas of different hygiene levels shall not be transferred between areas before disinfection, change of work clothes and cleaning procedures.

3. Temperature requirements. The temperature in the cutting and dividing workshop for edible poultry by-products shall be controlled below 12°C (excluding the scalding workshop for claws); the freezing workshop below -28°C; and the cold storage warehouse below -18°C. If pre-cooling is implemented, the core temperature of edible poultry by-products after pre-cooling shall be no higher than 3°C. The core temperature of edible poultry by-products during transportation shall not exceed -15°C.

4. Requirements for processed products. The trimmed poultry by-products shall be thoroughly washed and trimmed before freezing and packaging, and the surfaces shall be confirmed clean without pus, exudate, lesions, body fluids, gastrointestinal contents or other foreign matters (plastics, metals, feed residues, etc.). After washing and trimming, the poultry by-products shall not be processed in the same area as non-edible products.

5. Hygiene control during production. Production and processing enterprises shall formulate microbial monitoring plans for edible poultry by-products exported to China with different processes, and regularly record, preserve and analyze microbial monitoring data.

This announcement is hereby made.

General Administration of Customs 

June 1, 2023