STAG NEWS ALERT is produced for Australian Seafood Exporters, containing essential updates that may impact trade. Any information provided as part of this alert is general in nature. Before acting on any information provided, you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances and business objectives.

11th December 2020

IMPORTANT:  Do you prepare, supply and/or export fish and fish products to China?

Urgent response to the Department needed via a template by cob 16th December 2020

As advised in last week’s Market Access Advice (MAA 2020-20), the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has received a request from China for amendment of the health certificate required for the import of non-viable fish and fish products into China.  

The requested changes include the requirement for the department to hold accurate lists of the whole of supply chain associated with the final product being exported, including details that are not currently held by the Department:

• The aquaculture farms and catcher vessels from which the fish were originally sourced
• Transport vessels that may have collected and transported the catch from vessels to port
• Cold stores independent of processing establishments that may have stored the fish and fish products at any time prior to export

From 1 January 2021 these new details, as applicable to the product being exported are likely to be required when requesting an export permit once a revised Health Certificate is finalised.

Note: If you are the processor but not the exporter of the product to China, this additional information will be required by the exporter and needs to be included in your final declaration of compliance.

To ensure the new information can be verified by the Department and the Chinese authorities, you are requested to complete a template with details of your suppliers and return them to the Department.

You can access the template here

The Department strongly encourages you to complete and return this template available from the link above to the Department’s Dairy Eggs and Fish Program (dairyeggsfish@awe.gov.au) by COB 16 December 2020 in order to meet the new requirements by 1 January 2021.

The Department will be issuing additional market access advice to provide further guidance.

Should you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the department on dairyeggsfish@awe.gov.au.

Futher information

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STAG Alerts are a resource for Australian seafood exporters. The Seafood Trade Advisory Group receives funds from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.  The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation plans, invests in and manages fisheries research and development throughout Australia. It is a statutory authority within the portfolio of the federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, jointly funded by the Australian Government and the fishing industry.