Announcement of the General Administration of Customs No. 124 of 2024
According to relevant laws and regulations in China and the regulations of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Land, Agriculture, Fisheries, Irrigation and Rural Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe on the plant quarantine requirements for fresh avocados from Zimbabwe exported to China, imports of fresh avocados from Zimbabwe that meet the following requirements are allowed from today on.
1、 Inspection and quarantine basis
（1） Biosafety Law of the People's Republic of China;
（2） The Entry and Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine Law of the People's Republic of China and its implementing regulations;
（3） Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China and its implementing regulations;
（4） Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Inspection, Quarantine and Quarantine of Imported Fruits;
（5） Protocol between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Land, Agriculture, Fisheries, Irrigation and Rural Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe on Phytosanitary Requirements for Fresh Avocados Exported from Zimbabwe to China.
2、 Allow entry of product names
Fresh avocado (hereinafter referred to as avocado), scientific name Persea Americana, English name Avocado.
3、 Permitted place of origin
Zimbabwe avocado producing region.
4、 Approved orchards and packaging factories
The orchards, packaging plants, and fumigation facilities for exporting avocados to China must be reviewed by the Ministry of Land, Agriculture, Fisheries, Irrigation, and Rural Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe (hereinafter referred to as the Zimbabwean side) and approved for registration by the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Chinese side). Registration information includes name, address, and registration number to accurately trace the origin of exported goods that do not comply with relevant regulations. Before the annual export season, Tianjin should provide the Chinese side with a registration list, which will be reviewed and approved by the Chinese side before being published on the website of the General Administration of Customs.
5、 Quarantine pests of concern
1. Ceratitis capitata
2. Ceratitis cospyra
3. Ceratitis rosa
4. Thaumatotibia (=Cryptophalebia) leucotreta
5. Spodoptera littoralis
6. Aulacaspis tubularis
7. Ceroplastes rusci
8. Ceroplastes Destroyer
9. Corpus Longulus
10. Seducococcus longisinus
11. Selenaspidus articulatus
12. Elsinoe Perseae
13. Pseudomonas syringae pv syringae
14. Purpureocillium lilacinum
6、 Pre export management
（1） Orchard management.
1. Avocado orchards exporting to China should establish a sound quality management system and traceability system under the supervision of Tianjin, implement good agricultural practices (GAP), including maintaining orchard hygiene conditions, timely clearing fallen fruits, and implementing integrated pest management (IPM) measures such as pest investigation, monitoring, chemical or biological control, and agricultural operations to avoid or minimize the occurrence of quarantine pests of Chinese concern on avocados.
2. The Tianjin side shall conduct monitoring and investigation of quarantine pests of concern to the Chinese side in accordance with the requirements of International Phytosanitary Measures Standard No. 6 (ISPM 6) by technical personnel guided by the Tianjin side's official or authorized institutions. If quarantine pests of concern to the Chinese side are found, corresponding control measures shall be taken immediately. The pest monitoring plan and comprehensive management measures must be approved by the Tianjin side and provided to the Chinese side upon request.
3. Comprehensive management measures should be taken for the Mediterranean fruit fly, African mango fruit fly, Natal fruit fly, and apple shaped fruit moth, including the use of chemical control, biological control, and mating interference measures, or other control methods, to control the occurrence of harmful organisms or maintain a low prevalence level of harmful organisms.
4. In response to the pathogen of avocado scab, an orchard monitoring system should be established to strengthen orchard management. During the growth period of avocados, field monitoring surveys should be conducted at least once a month. Once circular or irregular shapes are found on the surface of the fruit, forming brown or cork like lesions, or when leaf veins are twisted, or leaves are deformed or atrophied, as well as unexplained fruit drop or deformity, samples should be taken in a timely manner and sent to the laboratory for molecular biology identification. Once confirmed as infected plants with avocado scab disease, infected fallen fruits or branches and leaves must be concentrated for inactivation treatment. At the same time, strengthen the investigation and monitoring of surrounding plants.
5. Monitoring and investigation should be carried out during the growing season for harmful organisms of concern to the Chinese side, such as the sea grey winged armyworm, mango white wheel shield scale, African tortoise wax scale, fig wax scale, long elliptical soft scale, long tailed mealybug, and cycad thorn round shield scale, at least once every two weeks from flowering to harvesting. The investigation focuses on observing whether there are target harmful organisms in fruits, fruit stalks, branches, stems, and leaves. If harmful organisms or their corresponding symptoms are found during monitoring, timely prevention and control measures including chemical or biological control should be taken to control the occurrence of harmful organisms or maintain a low prevalence level of harmful organisms.
6. Fruit orchards exporting to China shall retain records of pest monitoring, investigation, and control for at least two years, and shall provide them to the Chinese side upon request. The monitoring and prevention records of harmful organisms should at least include the monitoring time, the names of harmful organisms discovered, and the prevention and control measures taken; Chemical control records should include detailed information such as the names, active ingredients, concentrations, and application dates of all chemical reagents used during the growing season.
（2） Packaging factory management.
1. The processing, packaging, storage, and shipping of avocados must be carried out under the quarantine supervision of Tianjin or its authorized institutions.
During the post harvest processing and packaging of avocados, they should undergo high-pressure spray water washing, brush brushing, manual picking, grading, and other processes to ensure that there are no live insects, bad fruits, inferior fruits (over ripe fruits, peeled fruits, scarred fruits, black spot fruits, deformed fruits, etc.), branches, leaves, soil, etc. The fruit stem shall not be longer than 3 mm.
（3） Packaging requirements.
1. The packaging materials should be clean, hygienic, unused, and comply with relevant plant quarantine requirements in China. If wooden packaging is used, it must comply with the International Phytosanitary Measures Standard 15 (ISPM 15).
If packaged avocados need to be stored, they should be immediately stored in the warehouse and kept separately to avoid re infection by harmful organisms. Each packaging box must be labeled with the fruit name, country, place of origin (region or county), orchard name or its registration number, packaging factory name or its registration number, and other information. Each packaging box and pallet must be marked in Chinese or English with the words' Exported to the People's Republic of China 'or' Exported to the People's Republic of China '.
3. Before loading avocados for shipment to China, the container should be inspected to ensure good hygiene conditions. Necessary insect prevention measures should be taken when packing.
（4） Pre export inspection and quarantine.
1. The Tianjin side or its authorized personnel shall conduct sampling inspection on each batch of avocado exported to China at a ratio of 2% of each batch of goods, with a minimum sampling quantity of 1200 fruits. At least 60 fruits in the 2% sample or suspicious fruits found during the inspection process shall be dissected for inspection. If there are no plant quarantine issues within two years, the sampling ratio can be reduced to 1%, but the sampling quantity must not be less than 1200 fruits.
If live quarantine harmful organisms of concern to the Chinese side are found, the entire batch of goods shall not be exported to China. The Tianjin side should identify the cause and take improvement measures. At the same time, keep inspection records and provide them to the Chinese side upon request.
（5） Quarantine treatment requirements.
Avocados exported to China should be fumigated with bromomethane under the supervision of authorized personnel from Tianjin for fruit flies and apple shaped moths. The fumigation treatment indicators are as follows: the temperature is above 21.1 ° C, the dosage of fumigant is 32 g/m ^ 3, and the duration of atmospheric pressure fumigation is not less than 2 hours; The minimum concentration during fumigation should not be less than 26 g/m ^ 3 after 0.5 hours and not less than 16 g/m ^ 3 after 2 hours.
（6） Requirements for Plant Quarantine Certificate.
1. For avocados that have passed quarantine inspection, the Tianjin side should issue a plant quarantine certificate, indicating the name or registration number of the orchard, packaging factory, fumigation treatment enterprise, and container number, and stating in an additional statement: “This consignment complies with the requirements specified in the Protocol of Phytosanitary Requirements for Export of Fresh Avocado Fruits from Zimbabwe to China, and is free from quarantine pests of concern to China.”（ This batch of goods complies with the requirements of the Phytosanitary Protocol for the Export of Fresh Avocados from Zimbabwe to China and does not contain any quarantine pests of concern to the Chinese side
In the quarantine treatment column of the plant quarantine certificate, it is also necessary to indicate the dosage, duration, and treatment temperature of bromomethane used for fumigation treatment.
3. The Tianjin side should provide the Chinese side with samples of plant quarantine certificates before the start of trade, so that the Chinese side can file and verify them.
7、 Entry inspection, quarantine, and non conformance handling
When the avocado imported from China arrives at the Chinese port of entry, the Chinese customs will implement inspection and quarantine according to the following requirements.
（1） Regarding certificate and identification verification.
When avocados arrive at the Chinese port of entry, Chinese customs will inspect relevant documents and labels, and carry out inspection and quarantine.
2. Verify whether the plant quarantine certificate complies with the provisions of Article 6 (6) of this announcement.
3. Verify whether the markings on the packaging box or pallet comply with the provisions of Article 6 (3) of this announcement.
（2） Entry inspection and quarantine.
1. Avocados exported to China should be imported from ports allowed by the Chinese side for the import of fruits.
According to relevant laws, administrative regulations, rules and other provisions, imported avocados shall be inspected and quarantined. Those that pass the inspection and quarantine shall be allowed to enter the country.
（3） Unqualified handling.
If any goods are found to come from unregistered orchards, packaging factories, or fumigation treatment facilities, they are not allowed to enter the country.
If quarantine pests of concern to the Chinese side or newly discovered live quarantine pests in Zimbabwe are found, the batch of goods shall be returned, destroyed or treated for pest control.
If it is found that the goods do not comply with China's national food safety standards, the batch of goods will be returned or destroyed.
If any of the above non compliant situations are found, the Chinese side will notify the Tianjin side and suspend the export of avocados from relevant orchards or packaging factories to China during this export season depending on the situation. The Tianjin side should conduct an investigation, identify the reasons, and implement corresponding improvement measures. The Chinese side will decide whether to cancel the suspension measures based on the rectification results of the Tianjin side.
This is to announce.
General Administration of Customs
September 18th, 2024
The above content is sourced from the 12360 service subscription account
