WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/985 
8 December 2009 
 (09-6305) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
CHINA’S SAFETY ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM FOR EXPORT POULTRY  
AND POULTRY PRODUCTS 
 
Statement by China at the meeting of 28-29 October 2009  
 
 
 The following communication, received on 3 D ecember 2009, is being circulated at the 
request of the Delegation of China . 
 
_______________ 
 
 
I. BASIC INFORMATION ON POULTRY EXPORTS BY CHINA 
1. In 2007，China produced up to 13 million tons of poultry, being the world’s second largest 
poultry-producing country.  The Chinese Government has always attached great importance to poultry 
safety, and has gradually established the whole-pr ocess safety control system for export poultry and 
poultry products.  
2. On 29 May 2007, China formally joined the Wo rld Organization for Animal Health (OIE), 
and has since duly reported major epidemics to OIE in the form of Veterinary Bulletins.  On 
30 August 2007, China promulgated the newly-revised  Law on Animal Epidemic Prevention to 
strengthen the work in accordance with OIE relevant standards , setting up the principles of 
"regionalization" and "compartmentalization".  With  great efforts, most poultry export establishments, 
especially the large-sized establishments, have put in place veterinary epidemic prevention systems 
and bio-security control plans under the supervision of  official veterinarians.  In addition, existing 
systems such as the epidemic early-warning and rapid response systems, as well as product tracing and recall systems, were further improved.  
3. To ensure the safety of export poultry and poultry products, China has developed a highly 
integrated management system which involves "e xport company + breeding base + standardization" 
(i.e taking export poultry companies as the cente r and registered farms as the base, and conducting 
standardized production), which focuses on the whole supply chain and process administration 
approach.  Under this whole process system, the so- called "five ones" are implemented, i.e. one chick 
supply, one unified epidemic prevention and disinf ection system, one feed supply, one drug supply 
and one unified slaughtering and processing system in the official registered facilities.  
II. CHINESE LEGISLATION AND STANDARDS RELATING TO EXPORT POULTRY 
SAFETY 
(i) Law of the People’s Republic of China on Quality and Safety of Agricultural 
Products, Law of the People’s Republic of China on Animal Epidemic Prevention, Law of the People’s Republic of China on Food Safety, Law of the People's Republic of China on the Entry and Ex it Animal and Plant Quarantine  G/SPS/GEN/985 
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  (ii) Code for Quarantine of Animals at Places of Production, Sanitation Standards for 
Cooked Meat Products, Code for Quality a nd Safety Control of Export Poultry and 
Poultry Products, Inspection Procedures for Export Frozen Chicken, Inspection Procedures for Export Frozen Ducks and Geese. 
4. On 31 December 2005, China promulgated a series of Good Agricultural Practices  (GAP) 
national standards, and established a set of sta ndards for poultry breeding and animal welfare. 
III. CHINA’S REGULATORY SYSTEM FOR EXPORT POULTRY SAFETY 
A. R
EGISTRATION  
5. In accordance with the Food Safety Law  which entered into force on 1 June 2009, the State 
requires a license system for food production all over the country.  In the case of poultry and poultry 
products, a poultry farm has to apply to the Mini stry of Agriculture (MOA) for a qualification 
certificate for animal epidemic prevention before handling the business.  Based on this, the General 
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) will file the registration 
of breeding farms and export poultry processing esta blishments, respectively.  Therefore, only raw 
materials from registered farms may be used to process poultry for export, and only the registered 
establishments may deal in poultry processing and export. 
B. IN-FACTORY INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION  
6. There are official veterinarians from AQSIQ wo rking in the registered poultry breeding farms 
and processing establishments.  In accordance with relevant inspection procedures, they carry out 
routine on-site or sampling inspection to ensure th e animal diseases of concern and veterinary drug 
residues are effectively monitored and controlled.  
C. EXPORT INSPECTION  
7. Before the poultry and poultry products are exported, very stringent compulsory testing and 
inspection against the importing countries/regions ’ requirements will be carried out by AQSIQ.  
Should the shipments fail in passing the testing a nd inspection, the poultry and poultry products will 
not be allowed for exportation.  
D. TESTING CAPACITY  
8. To meet the poultry and poultry products inspection and testing needs, MOA and AQSIQ 
have established a sufficient number of high-level an imal disease laboratories and drug residue testing 
laboratories, which are accredited according to ISO/IEC Guide 17025-2005.  These laboratories have 
the capacity of detecting poultry diseases such as avian influenza and Newcastle disease, testing 
pesticide and drug residues in poultry as well as hazardous chemicals. 
E. OTHER RELEVANT MEASURES  
9. In China, the enterprises producing poultry and po ultry products for export are encouraged to 
adopt safety, quality and environmental manage ment systems like Good Agricultural Practice, 
HACCP, ISO9001 and ISO14001.  To help build up a credible system among poultry export enterprises, AQSIQ is also managing a red list and a black list of exporting enterprises with 
continuous compliance and tho se with repetitive violations.  G/SPS/GEN/985 
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__________ ANNEX 
 
Diagram of Chinese System for Supervision of Export Poultry Insp ection and Quarantine  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
___ Ministry of Agriculture General Administration of Quality Supervision, 
Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) 
Provincial animal 
husbandry bureaus China Inspection and Quarantine authorities 
(CIQs) 
Municipal and county animal 
husbandry bureaus Branches of CIQs 
Registered 
farm Poultry 
processing 
factory Distribution Consumers
Feed Poultry chick 
Epidemic 
prevention 
Drugs Domestic Quarantine at 
origin of production Inspection and quarantine of export poultry on the basis 
of qualified quarantine by animal husbandry 
departments The State Council 
“Five ones” and GAP 
system management HACCP and ISO9000 quality 
management system 
Traceable management in full process of  feeding, slaughtering and processing