Digital health certificates drive Norway's seafood exports to China

This will significantly simplify and accelerate the export of Norwegian seafood to China, speeding up the process, greatly reducing the risk of delays at ports such as Shanghai, and enhancing traceability from the source of shipment.

Before the signing of the agreement, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority had to manually issue over 19,000 paper health certificates to China annually, making China the largest recipient of such documents from Norway.

The agreement further consolidates the close economic ties between the two countries, especially in the seafood sector.

In 2024, Norwegian seafood exports to China surged to 182,000 tons, with an export value reaching 9.4 billion Norwegian kroner (approximately 823 million USD), a year-on-year increase of 10%.

With the reduction of administrative barriers, high-value live products, as well as core categories such as salmon and mackerel, are expected to see a more robust demand.

Norway has successfully implemented similar electronic certificate solutions in other major markets such as South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Thailand. The launch of this system in China is seen as a crucial step towards building a modernized, sustainable, and completely paperless international seafood trade ecosystem.