Reuters reported on June 19, citing three sources that the Chinese General Administration of Customs has just required food exporters to China to sign a declaration of commitment that their food is not contaminated with the new strain of coronavirus (SARS- CoV-2), the culprit of the Covid-19 pandemic.
| A container terminal at Tianjin port, China. Photo: Reuters |
A Chinese meat importer said the declaration was an attempt by China to eliminate the additional testing that was done on food imported into China starting last week and to force the Exporters are responsible for ensuring their products are safe. This person did not reveal his identity because of the sensitivity of the problem.
An official from the French Pork Industry Association (Inaporc) said it had received notice of the above declaration.
The declaration states that the exporter is willing to comply with Chinese laws and the guidance of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure that food is sold. to China infected with the virus causing the Covid-19 epidemic.
“In the event that a new case or suspect case of Covid-19 has been discovered on the food export side or if there is a risk that food exported to China is infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, we are ready. take all necessary measures to eliminate food safety risks and protect consumers’ health ”, the content stated.
City government. Beijing began testing the SARS-CoV-2 virus in imported food samples after a Covid-19 outbreak broke out in a farm produce wholesale market last week.
In Tianjin, the main import port for goods into Beijing, authorities are examining all containers of frozen meat.
More than 30,000 samples of meat, seafood, and vegetables foods were tested from June 11 to 17 and all tested negative, according to China’s General Administration of Customs. The test was conducted after a Covid-19 specimen was sourced from an imported salmon chopping board at the Tan Phat Dia agricultural wholesale wholesale market in Beijing.
After stopping importing salmon from Europe last week, China also suspended imports of meat products from Toennies Meat Processing Company (Germany) because hundreds of workers at one of its factories were distributed. positive for Covid-19.
“Testing all of the food will be very time consuming and costly, so they require suppliers to sign this form,” a meat exporter said. However, the effect of this declaration is still unknown. Another meat exporter said: “If any shipment is found to be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, they will be canceled with or without a declaration.”
Some exporters, including Canadian businesses that export lobsters, are confused with this declaration.
Stewart Lamont, director of Tangier Lobster Lobster Export Company in Nova Scotia, Canada, said:
“Canadian exporters must bravely oppose this declaration.”
Lamont’s company exports lobsters to China by air, but he refuses to sign a declaration pledging that the lobster is free of SARS-CoV-2 virus because he is worried that if something goes wrong, his company will be responsible before the Chinese courts.
He said his company’s lobsters are safe but worried about legal risks if “blatantly disregarded” in the Chinese court system. Relations between Beijing and Ottawa are strained after the arrest of Canada by Meng Wanzhou, vice chairman of the board and chief financial officer of Huawei Corporation at the request of the United States on allegations of fraud. financial institution in the US to sell equipment to Iran, in violation of Washington’s embargo against Tehran.
According to SaigonTimes
