New regulations from China Customs applicable from June 1, 2026, pose a major challenge, forcing Vietnamese agricultural enterprises to quickly standardize to safeguard their market share.

Notably, beyond tightening traceability requirements, China is also expanding the directory of products that must bear a letter of recommendation from competent authorities, while strengthening post-inspections on imported shipments. This forces Vietnamese enterprises to change their approach if they wish to avoid congestion or customs clearance rejections.

China adjusts management methods for imported rice, dried vegetables, and a series of agricultural products

Dr. Ngo Xuan Nam—Deputy Director of the Vietnam SPS Office (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development)—stated that since the beginning of the year, RCEP member countries have issued 135 draft notifications and effective notifications regarding SPS, accounting for 28.2% of the total notifications from WTO members. The Chinese market alone recorded 33 changes related to food safety and animal and plant disease safety (SPS).

Among these, Decree 280 of China Customs will officially take effect on June 1, 2026, heavily tightening the management of imported agricultural and aquatic products. Authorities warn that enterprises and cooperatives may face returned applications, export code suspensions, or customs clearance blockages due to minor discrepancies in documentation, packaging, and system declarations.

Specifically, GACC's Announcement No. 27/2026, which guides the implementation of Decree 280 on the registration management of foreign manufacturers of imported food, introduces many stricter requirements for enterprises exporting food to China.

According to the new regulations, there are 18 food groups that must be recommended by competent authorities when registering for export to China. These include many of Vietnam's flagship export commodities such as rice, dried vegetables, spice powders, seafood, egg products, vegetable oils, dried fruits, cashews, health supplements, and frozen fruits in certain special cases.

For rice in particular, China has adjusted its management classification from the "grains used for food" group to direct management under the "rice" group. According to GACC's risk assessment, this commodity harbors potential risks of pest infestation, heavy metal residues like cadmium, and risks associated with genetically modified rice.

For dried vegetables and spice powders, the Chinese side draws specific attention to risks regarding additive residues, sulfur dioxide, ethylene oxide (ETO), pathogenic microorganisms, and heavy metals exceeding permissible thresholds.

Beyond tightening registration conditions, China is also changing the way it manages the validity of enterprise codes.

Accordingly, for enterprises subject to mandatory recommendation by competent authorities, products manufactured while the code remains valid can still be imported even if the code expires but has not yet been extended at the time of customs clearance, provided the product remains within its shelf life. Conversely, for self-registered enterprises, the code must be valid at the time of the import declaration.

GACC also emphasized that fraudulent declarations or the use of incorrect enterprise registration codes may lead to a refusal of customs clearance or handling under regulations.

According to the Vietnam SPS Office, enterprises need to pay close attention to clearly distinguishing which products fall under mandatory registration through competent authorities and which products are permitted to register directly with GACC.

Under the new rules, there are 2,589 product codes subject to registration through Vietnam's competent authorities, while for many other product groups, enterprises can register on their own and bear self-responsibility.

Simultaneously, enterprises must prepare full documentation in English or Chinese, declaring exactly the address, enterprise information, and the corresponding HS codes and CIQ codes.

Tightening post-inspections, enterprises need to avoid the risk of being "banned"

Another notable point is that China is shifting decisively from pre-inspection to post-inspection, while applying risk assessment mechanisms to each industry and each enterprise.

According to GACC assessment documents, factors such as the proportion of violating shipments, food safety risks, or serious incidents arising in the exporting country can all impact the extension or suspension of an enterprise's code.

In this context, the Vietnam SPS Office recommends that enterprises enhance food safety control across the entire production chain, from raw material areas to packaging and processing facilities. Concurrently, prior to export, they must proactively verify the validity of their enterprise registration codes to avoid the risk of cargo congestion at border gates.

Additionally, enterprises are advised to regularly update new SPS notifications on the website of the Vietnam SPS Office and GACC's CIFER system to promptly adjust production and export activities.

According to the new catalog published by the Chinese side, the group of plant-sourced products used for food alone currently features 25 commodities that must be registered through Vietnam's competent authorities before export.

This directory includes polished rice, brown rice, broken rice, dried jackfruit, dried banana, dried coconut, dried lychee, dried longan, cashews, macadamia nuts, lotus seeds, and various other nuts.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, China remained a major market for Vietnamese agricultural products in the first four months of this year, accounting for about 21.1% of total export turnover.

Mr. Vo Van Hung, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, affirmed that improving SPS enforcement capacity will be a core task in the coming time, aiming to shift from a mindset of "meeting market requirements" to "building competitive capacity through standards, quality, and transparency."

China's continuous updating and tightening of import regulations show that this market is no longer an "easy playground" as before. Therefore, for Vietnamese enterprises, satisfying technical standards, ensuring traceability, and managing food safety will become mandatory conditions if they wish to maintain their market share in today's largest agricultural export market.

Source: Bao dien tu Dan tri