China to suspend imports from companies if shipments of frozen food test positive for COVID-19
Chinese customs officials will suspend imports from companies for one week if frozen foods test positive for COVID-19.
According to reporting in Reuters, companies will face a one week suspension if frozen food products test positive for the novel coronavirus for the first or second time.
However, if frozen food products yield a positive result for a third time or more, imports from that producer or company will be suspended for four weeks.
Beijing has significantly tightened checks on imported frozen food cargoes and banned imports from some foreign meat processing plants as COVID-19 has rocked the global food sector.
The new guidelines come after Chinese authorities found COVID-19 contamination in the meat and seafood sections of the Xinfadi wholesale food market in June.
According to customs officials, imports from the suspended companies will resume automatically after the one-week or four-week period. The new policy has been effective since 11 September.
