China Food Import
In the past decade, China has shown explosive growth in terms of exports and imports as this former sleeping giant established multilateral agreements with different countries around the world trough WTO. Indeed, China became progressive as developed countries took advantage of the cheap products that China has to offer. Apparently, goods that are made in China are very commonplace now in society. However, there is one segment of China´s imports that seems to have problems with food and safety standard – food import.
The unforgettable China milk scandal that contained melamine has brought panic to worldwide consumers making almost all food items from China a suspect. As a result, countries like the United States have toughened its restrictions when screening food imports from China. Likewise, China´s authorities , mainly the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China (AQSIQ), in-charge of food import and export, has been working very hard recently to tighten also standards for food coming from other countries as well as reported by the Global Times only last July 2010.
China has been heavily importing food also from other countries since the Chinese have also acquired taste for certain western dishes that young Chinese people consume. Also, the population has expanded buying power for even imported gourmet foods especially the upscale market. However, the issues surrounding food safety have been taken seriously by the government as it required business exporters to comply with filing procedures at AQSIQ especially those that would export food for the first time. In the same manner , imported food would be subject to strict inspection especially those that have been subjected to long transportation which can make food perish.
For those who are considering China Food Import business, it is important to comply with the latest regulations on safety and inspection. Also, continuous attendance on food fairs and international food trade conferences would give one a good overview of China´s Food import. There are still many opportunities to export food to China as the population is gaining economic power to spend for things that are quite new to them such as food.