What is ASQIQ / CIQ for food and agricultural imports?
Short Answer: China-Side Quality and Quarantine Oversight - Food, Agricultural and Plant Products Need Health or Phytosanitary Certificates and Customs Inspection Before Export
For food, agricultural and certain health or plant products, China applies quality and quarantine oversight through ASQIQ - the quality arm of the State Administration for Market Regulation - together with Customs quarantine, historically known as CIQ. Exports of these goods typically require a health certificate, a phytosanitary certificate, or a Customs inspection before the container leaves China, and the destination country then imposes its own food-safety import licence on top. This is a far stricter regime than general merchandise, because edible and plant products are high-risk and the requirements are category-specific down to the individual commodity. If you plan to source food, supplements or agricultural goods, confirm the exact certificate chain and the destination licence before you order, and use an agent experienced in food export who can actually produce the documents. Get it wrong and you risk a container held at both ends.
Food Is Not General Merchandise
Buyers who have imported homeware or electronics smoothly are often blindsided by their first food order. The commercial mechanics look similar - supplier, PI, deposit, container - but the regulatory layer is entirely different and it operates on both sides of the water at once.
The practical consequence is that documentation, not price, becomes the critical path. A container of biscuits with a missing health certificate is a container that does not move.
- Commercial invoice and packing list
- Product compliance marks
- Customs declaration
- Usually no pre-export inspection
- Health or phytosanitary certificate
- Customs quarantine inspection
- Registered exporter facility
- Destination import licence
What ASQIQ and Customs Quarantine Cover
The oversight is split between market-regulation quality standards and border quarantine. In day-to-day practice your exporter deals with both through the Customs system, and the outputs are the certificates your buyer's border authority will demand.
| Document | What it certifies | Typical commodity |
|---|---|---|
| Health certificate | Fit for human consumption | Processed food, beverages |
| Phytosanitary certificate | Free of listed plant pests | Dried goods, seeds, herbs |
| Veterinary certificate | Animal-origin safety | Animal by-products |
| Customs inspection release | Quarantine cleared for export | Most edible categories |
The Destination Side Is a Separate Hurdle
Clearing China does not clear your own border. The United States requires FDA prior notice and facility registration for food; the EU operates its own import controls with border control posts for products of animal origin; and most markets require an importer licence for edible goods. Both chains must line up on the same shipment.
Where Food Shipments Actually Fail
- Exporter is not a registered food facility Trading company cannot issue the certificate.
- Certificate names the wrong commodity Border rejects on the description.
- No destination import licence Goods land with nobody able to receive them.
- Labelling not in destination language Common rejection cause.
- Insufficient remaining shelf life Entry refused on arrival.
Sequence the Documents Before You Order
Confirm the commodity code
Requirements are commodity-specific.
Check the destination import rules
Licence, labelling, shelf life.
Verify the exporter's registration
Facility must be eligible to export.
Agree who obtains each certificate
In writing, in the contract.
Book the Customs inspection early
It sits on the critical path.
Match labels to destination law
Language, allergens, nutrition panel.
Case: The Dried Goods Container Held at Both Ends
The trading company that quoted the goods was not a registered exporter for that commodity, so no phytosanitary certificate could be issued in its name. The container sat in Ningbo while the paperwork was reconstructed through the actual processing facility.
How RND SOURCING Approaches Food Sourcing
We are candid about this category: food and agricultural export is a specialist chain, and we scope the document path before we quote a product. That means confirming the factory is a registered exporter for the specific commodity, mapping which certificate each border will demand, and checking your destination licence and labelling rules while the order is still an idea. Where a category sits outside our direct experience we say so and bring in an exporter who lives in it, rather than learning on your container. General merchandise forgives improvisation - edible goods do not.
Discuss a food or agricultural sourcing projectRelated Questions
- What certifications do I need for US/EU imports?
- What documents do I need to import from China?
- How do I verify a supplier's test report is real?
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