Two of New Zealand’s largest seafood companies flagged by Chinese Customs

Published Feb 11, 2021

Tridge summary

China has temporarily halted imports from two of New Zealand's largest seafood companies, Sanford Ltd. and Sealord Group, due to concerns about the World Health Organization's COVID-19 guidance and food safety management. The suspension follows similar actions against seafood companies from countries like Ecuador, Russia, and Indonesia, with China's food safety inspections leading to significant import bottlenecks. The World Health Organization has refuted China's claims that COVID-19 can be transmitted via food packaging and is considering a change in its stance. This development takes place as an international mission, including experts from the World Health Organization, is in Wuhan to investigate the origin of the novel coronavirus.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Two of New Zealand’s largest seafood companies have had shipments flagged by Chinese Customs.China has temporarily blocked all imports of products from Sanford Ltd.’s Havelock mussels processing facility and Sealord Group’s Nelson facility that processes finfish and fishmeal for animal feeds, New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said in a statement.The suspension was due to “issues around the interpretation of the World Health Organization’s COVID guidance, and food safety management,” according to the ministry, which said it is seeking further clarification from Beijing. Chinese Customs authorities conducted live video audits in late January, but did not inform the two companies of their suspensions until Monday, 8 February, according to the ministry.China has taken similar action against dozens of seafood companies from around the world in recent months, including Ecuadorian shrimp firms, Russian crab companies, and Indonesian fish exporters, after claiming to ...

Source: Seafoodsource