Date: June 19, 2017

Since May 2014, the Chinese Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA) has required dairy and infant formula plants that ship products to China to be registered with them through the publication of facility lists.

To be successfully published on CNCA’s dairy and infant formula plant lists, the plants must be found compliant with Chinese laws and regulations.  On June 15, 2017, CNCA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that recognizes the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) as a third-party certifier eligible to conduct verification audits against Chinese requirements for U.S. dairy and infant formula plants intending to export to China.

Obtaining a verification audit is mandatory for plantsto be registered; plants not registered are not eligible to ship to China.  CNCA has published a catalogue of products (pdf) that require registration.

In order to facilitate understanding of CNCA’s product categories, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified the following Harmonized System (HS) product codes that require registration with CNCA:

• 0401 – Fluid milk and cream of varying fat contents
• 0402 – Concentrated milk, including milk powder, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk
• 0403 – Yogurt, buttermilk, other fermented and acidified milk and cream
• 0404 – Whey and modified whey up to 80% protein; other products of natural milk constituents (including milk protein concentrate and milk permeate, but excluding colostrum)
• 0405 – Butter, dairy spreads, milk fats
• 0406 – Cheese
• 1901.10 – Infant formula

USDA has identified the following HS product codes that do not require registration with CNCA:

• 1702 – Lactose
• 1901.90 – Dairy-based food preparations based on goods of HS 0401-0404
• 2105.00 – Ice cream, edible ice

Plants should note that CNCA has reserved the right to modify the list of products requiring registration, so information contained in this notice is subject to change.  For more information about AMS audit verification services, please contact:

Michael Eichorst
Administrative Officer
AMS Dairy Grading National Field Office
Tel:  630-810-9999
Email:  DairyNFO@ams.usda.gov

OR

AMS Dairy Program
Tel:  202-720-4392

OR

Carrie L. Sayasithsena
National Program Coordinator, All Products, Grade Labels, Resident Programs, Export Certification
AMS Dairy Grading and Standards
Tel:  202-720-9381
Email:  DairyNFO@ams.usda.gov

For further information regarding the CNCA/FDA MOU or how AMS audit services will be used in the registration process, please refer to FDA’s Guidance for Industry on Establishing and Maintaining a List of U.S. Milk and Milk Product, Seafood, Infant Formula, and Formula for Young Children Manufacturer/Processors with Interest in Exporting to China.

For further information regarding CNCA’s registration requirements, please contact the Foreign Agricultural Service: agexport@fas.usda.gov or (202) 720-2378.