Ministry of Industry and Trade informs about Decree 280 of China

The Import and Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) recommends that businesses and food manufacturers exporting to the Chinese market carefully study the newly issued Decree 280.

The General Administration of Customs of China has just issued Decree 280 to replace Order 248, regulating the registration of imported food production facilities, effective from June 1, 2026.

As soon as the Chinese Customs issued this Decree, the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) issued Official Dispatch No. 1510/XNK-NH dated November 11, 2025 to the Departments of Industry and Trade of provinces and centrally run cities and associations of agricultural and food products, informing about the General Department of Customs of China issuing Decree No. 280 regulating the registration of imported food production facilities abroad. This regulation replaces Order 248, expected to take effect from June 1, 2026.

The document stated that, according to information from the Vietnam SPS Office (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), Decree 280 consists of 4 chapters and 33 articles, specifically regulating the registration method, dossiers, review process and requirements for enterprises exporting agricultural products and food to the Chinese market.

Some notable contents stated in the document include: The General Administration of Customs of China, based on the assessment of the system, the national food safety situation and the risk level of the product, will clearly stipulate the registration methods, registration dossiers, review process and other corresponding registration requirements.

In addition, the General Administration of Customs of China will issue a list of products that are required to have a letter of introduction from a competent authority (Article 6).

If a country’s food safety management system is recognized by China and meets certain conditions, it can apply the registration method based on the list of enterprises instead of each enterprise having to register individually (Article 17).

If there are changes that greatly affect the food safety management system (such as relocation, change of legal representative, change of registration number of the host country), the code issued by the General Administration of Customs of China will expire and the enterprise must submit a new code registration application (Article 20).

China will also apply the Automatic Renewal mechanism, the renewal period is 5 years, except for some specific cases (Article 21). The General Administration of Customs of China will issue a list of non-automatic renewals (Article 22).

Enterprises also need to pay attention to the responsibilities of competent authorities and food production enterprises (Article 24). The General Administration of Customs of China will issue separate regulations for food storage enterprises and primary agricultural production facilities used directly as food (Article 30).

The General Administration of Import and Export – Ministry of Industry and Trade requests that the Departments of Industry and Trade and industry associations widely disseminate information to enterprises and food manufacturers exporting to the Chinese market to proactively grasp, update and comply with new regulations, ensuring smooth export activities.

In the coming time, the General Administration of Import and Export – Ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to coordinate with the Vietnam SPS Office to closely follow information from the General Administration of Customs of China and the Secretariat of the WTO SPS Committee to update regulations on: Registration methods, registration dossiers, review procedures and other corresponding registration requirements; list of products that require a letter of introduction from a competent authority; list of products that cannot be automatically renewed; Special regulations for food storage enterprises and primary agricultural production facilities used directly as food…; coordinate with competent authorities to provide specific instructions for enterprises and manufacturers.

Source: Electronic Industry and Trade Newspaper