New Customs Regulations Take Effect! A Must-Read for Importers of Frozen Meat and Aquatic Products: Revised Rules for Designated Supervision Venues

June 12, 2026

GAPS-Global

9044

Guide

Highlights at a glance

The General Administration of Customs Announcement No. 81 introduces updated rules on designated supervision venues for imported cold chain food, impacting frozen meat, aquatic products, grain, and fruits. These regulations impose higher thresholds for venue construction and acceptance, stricter operational requirements, and penalties for violations. Industry practitioners are advised to understand these new requirements to mitigate operational risks. The revisions aim to centralize customs supervision, improve food safety, and streamline workflows. However, they may lead to operational challenges such as port congestion and elevated costs for non-compliant venues. Staying informed and collaborating with qualified partners are key to navigating these changes and ensuring smooth business operations in the frozen food industry.

Issued on June 10, 2026, General Administration of Customs Announcement No. 81 officially rolled out the updated Rules for the Administration of Customs Designated Supervision Venues, setting new requirements for supervision venues of imported cold chain food. This new regulation covers the entire process of customs clearance, warehousing and inspection for imported frozen meat, aquatic products, grain, fruits and other commodities. All practitioners engaged in frozen food and imported food ingredients are advised to fully understand the key revisions to avoid operational risks in advance.

1. What Are Customs Designated Supervision Venues?

Simply put, these are dedicated operation areas designated by customs. High-risk commodities including commonly imported chilled and frozen meat (including frozen casings) and aquatic products must undergo inspection, quarantine and testing at such designated venues.

Besides meat and aquatic products, these venues also handle supervision of imported grain, fruits, seedlings, logs and other goods. Under the new rules, such venues shall be located within port supervision areas in principle. Different types of supervision venues at the same port will be planned into comprehensive venues to enable centralized and efficient customs supervision.

2. Venue Construction & Acceptance: Higher Access Thresholds and Stricter Procedures

Three standardized phases are defined for the construction or renovation of new imported cold chain supervision venues: project approval, pre-acceptance and final acceptance by the General Administration of Customs.

Time limit for project approval: Upon approval, construction and pre-acceptance application must be completed within 2 years. Approval will become invalid if the deadline is missed, requiring cold chain parks and bonded warehouses to strictly follow the timeline.
Multi-level review: The whole process involves assessment by local authorities, preliminary review by local customs offices and final acceptance by the General Administration of Customs, including document review and on-site verification. Supervision capacity of customs staff and laboratory testing capabilities are also assessed.
Mandatory joint prevention and control: Local governments, customs authorities and operating enterprises are required to jointly establish emergency response mechanisms for food safety and animal/plant epidemic prevention to ensure rapid disposal of problems such as veterinary drug residues and animal diseases.

For comprehensive venues serving multiple categories of goods, unified project approval and acceptance will be adopted to streamline repeated procedures.

3. Daily Operation: Dynamic Supervision with Penalties for Violations

All operational port cold storage facilities and supervision venues are subject to regular dynamic supervision instead of one-off lifetime qualification.

Timely reporting for information changes: Any adjustment to the name, address or operator of a venue must be reported to customs within the specified period. Incomplete formalities will disrupt normal customs clearance.
No unauthorized reconstruction: Renovation, expansion or new construction of cold storage, inspection areas and cold chain facilities must be reported in advance. Customs may suspend all import operations if the construction undermines epidemic prevention and supervision. Full re-acceptance is required before resuming services.
Qualification suspension for long-term idleness: Venues with no relevant import business for two consecutive years will have their supervision qualifications suspended. Re-qualification inspection is mandatory for reactivation.
Annual random inspection and delisting mechanism: The General Administration of Customs conducts annual random re-inspections nationwide. Non-compliant venues will be ordered to rectify within a time limit. Those in the following circumstances will be permanently delisted:
1. Causing major animal/plant epidemics or major food safety incidents;
2. Failing to meet epidemic prevention and supervision standards after rectification;
3. Failing to complete rectification within the time limit after business suspension;
4. Remaining out of service for more than one year with no possibility of resumption.

Once disqualified, venues need to restart the entire process of project approval, construction and acceptance to resume import business, which is time-consuming and costly.

4. Practical Impacts on the Frozen Food Industry and Importers

Against the backdrop of tight cold storage capacity at ports and stricter sampling inspection for imported meat, the new rules will reshape the industry landscape in multiple aspects:

Standardized clearance with fluctuating efficiency: Imported frozen meat and aquatic products can only be processed at qualified designated venues. Small cold storage and temporary warehouses will be excluded from cold chain supervision. Cargo will be increasingly concentrated at large formal port warehouses, likely exacerbating warehouse congestion, queuing and container detention at major ports.
Stricter quarantine and sampling inspection: Targeting veterinary drug residues, animal diseases and contaminants, testing standards will be further tightened. Following frequent detections of drug residues in imported meat in recent times, unqualified products will be intercepted immediately. Relevant venues and enterprises involved will be placed under enhanced supervision. Purchasers need to conduct stricter product selection and traceability management.
Industry reshuffling for cold chain venues: Small venues with inadequate supporting facilities will be phased out. Large bonded warehouses and port parks equipped with high-standard cold chain systems and sound epidemic prevention measures will become mainstream, leading to more concentrated cargo distribution and warehousing choices.
Elevated operational risks: Traders, wholesalers and catering buyers are advised to source goods exclusively from venues with official qualifications and verify customs clearance documents and quarantine certificates. Suspension of operations at upstream venues will directly lead to cargo detention, extra demurrage fees and disrupted sales.

5. Summary & Recommendations

The revised Rules for the Administration of Customs Designated Supervision Venues has officially taken effect, featuring higher access thresholds, strengthened dynamic supervision and reinforced safeguards for imported food safety.

For practitioners in the frozen food sector:

In the short term, keep track of warehouse capacity and clearance efficiency at ports, and arrange booking and delivery schedules reasonably. Strictly verify quarantine reports and clearance channels during procurement to mitigate compliance risks.
In the long run, the industry will develop toward higher standards, stricter supervision and intensive operation. Comply with new regulations and cooperate with qualified partners to ensure stable business development.

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