October 22, 2025 | 06:30

Vietnam's agri-exports eye new opportunities under China’s new decree

Chu Minh Khôi

China’s Decree No. 280 is considered an important adjustment in Its food import management policy, directly impacting all businesses exporting agricultural products and food to the country.

Vietnam's agri-exports eye new opportunities under China’s new decree
A view of the conference Updating Regulations and Commitments on Food Safety and Animal and Plant Quarantine (SPS) in the RCEP Agreement held on October 21.

The General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) has issued the revised "Administrative Provisions on the Customs Registration of Overseas Manufacturers of Imported Food in the People's Republic of China" (Decree No. 280), which will take effect from June 1, 2026, replacing Decree No. 248 which has been applied since 2022.

This information was revealed at a  conference, theming "Updating Regulations and Commitments on Food Safety and Animal and Plant Quarantine (SPS) in the RCEP Agreement,"  organized on October 21 by the Vietnam SPS Office, in coordination with the Hung Yen Provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment.

According to Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam, Deputy Director of the Vietnam SPS Office, Decree No. 280 is considered an important adjustment in China's food import management policy, adding 7 new points compared to the old regulations and directly impacting all businesses exporting agricultural products and food to China.

While Decree No. 248 required Chinese customs authorities to evaluate the food safety management system of each exporting country before granting permission, Decree No. 280 will eliminate this condition, replacing it with a "risk-based classification management" model. This is a systemic change, shifting from an administrative approach to a more flexible mechanism based on the risk level of each product group and the food safety situation in an exporting country.

According to Mr. Nam, this new mechanism not only reduces the procedural burden for businesses but also helps China maintain high safety standards while expanding market access opportunities for developing countries like Vietnam. "This is a systemic shift that both ensures risk control and creates more favorable conditions for international agricultural trade," he emphasized.

One of the progressive points of the new decree  is the improvement in the renewal of export registration codes. Previously, businesses had to complete renewal procedures within 3–6 months before the code expired; under the new regulation, facilities meeting the requirements will be automatically renewed for an additional 5 years without resubmitting documents.

GACC only excludes three cases: products on the list not eligible for automatic renewal; businesses undergoing rectification for violations; or when China temporarily suspends imports of products from that country. This mechanism is evaluated to significantly reduce administrative costs and reflects China's confidence in the management system and compliance of exporting businesses.

Additionally, Decree No. 280 adds a "list-based registration" mechanism for countries that have signed bilateral cooperation agreements on food safety with China. In this case, businesses only need to be on the recognized list instead of submitting individual applications. This approach helps shorten review times, encourages countries to promote mutual recognition negotiations in the fields of quarantine and food safety, and contributes to increased transparency and stability in agricultural trade.

Attention
The original article is written and published on VnEconomy in Vietnamese, then translated into English by Askonomy – an AI platform developed by Vietnam Economic Times/VnEconomy – and published on En-VnEconomy. To read the full article, please use the Google Translate tool below to translate the content into your preferred language.
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