China Import Food Enterprise Registration (CIFER) Help

The web address to access CIFER is cifer.singlewindow.cn

You can correct most of your details through a modification application within the CIFER system.

However, there are some registration details that cannot be modified without cancelling your current establishment registration and re-registering under a new application (refer Article 19 of Decree 248).

Article 19 applies when changes are made to:

1. the Australian establishment number,
2. nominated legal representative, and
3. physical location of the establishment.

If one of these details need to be changed, please contact the department to discuss your circumstance.

If you have an export establishment registered or listed with the department and are producing a product for export to China described by GACC Decree 248 as an Article 7 product, the department can certify your Australian account in CIFER or certify your new Australian account in CIFER if you create a new account.

Article 7 products include:

If you do not have an establishment registration number and you are producing, manufacturing or storing prescribed goods (as defined in the Export Control Act 2020), you will need to submit an EX26 form online through the department’s website. More information regarding this can be found at www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/export/from-australia/ex26

If you do not have an establishment registration number and you are producing, manufacturing or storing non-prescribed goods, you will need to submit an application form to the Non-Prescribed Goods team. The application form can be found at https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/export/controlled-good…

If you are seeking export registration for a dairy processing establishment, you must contact our export facilitator service by email at DairyExportSupport@aff.gov.au before you submit an application form. This service will help you understand the relevant registration requirements and how to prepare for the registration process.

The Chinese government passed Decree 248 that requires any establishment involved in the production, manufacture or storage of a food product intended for import into China to be registered in the CIFER system. The responsibility for CIFER registration sits with the establishment. Establishments undertake a commercial decision to trade with China and must manage their CIFER registration as an importing country requirement for this market.

If your product is covered under Decree 248, you will not be able to export product or supply export product through the export supply chain to China if you are not registered on CIFER. Attempts to do so may result in detained, rejected or destroyed consignments.

You will not be able to use product/s sourced from this establishment in the export supply chain to China. Attempts to do so may result in detained or rejected consignments.

For processed foods, not all establishments in the supply chain are required to be registered - just the last processing step. For example, farms do not need to be registered.

The CIFER query website (ciferquery.singlewindow.cn) is a public facing site administered by the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) that shows all current registrations within CIFER, including the product category, overseas registration number (such as your Australian export establishment number) and expiry date of the registration.

The registration is for food manufacturing, processing and cold storage facilities that handle products categorised as Article 7 or Article 9 products for export to China. The department recommends that all food processing facilities that carry out the final processing step as well as storage facilities where product is subsequently handled prior to export to China, should be registered.

For example, if you are a freight forwarder and only receive and forward foods without storing product for any length of time, the requirements do not apply. If you are a freight forwarder that stores cold product for extended periods of time, then the registration requirements will apply. If you are a brand owner and use contract manufacturers, then you do not need to register but your contract manufacturers will need to register.

No, only the establishment can apply and manage their registration. The application requires specific information to be submitted by the manufacturer, processor or cold storage facility, including the legal representative for the establishments. If the company does not process/store/handle food products, they do not need to register.

If your products fall under Article 9 of the Decree 248, you are not required to have your registration verified by the department. You can continue to self-manage your registration including modifying any requirements as needed. If you are unsure, then you should contact the GACC, your importer or the department to identify whether additional registration requirements apply.

Not necessarily, however some additional requirements may need to be met. For instance, if the category of product exported fits under Article 7 of Decree 248 and you are registered with GACC, you may need to update your details by 30 June 2023 to ensure your registration continues beyond that date.

Currently the CIFER registration application process under the decrees has not been fully established for Article 7 products. Please contact the department at exportlisting@aff.gov.au.

If you manufacture, process or store food products other than those specified as an 'Article 7' product, you will need to self-register your business with China through the China Import Food Enterprise Registration (CIFER) system. These products are described under Article 9 of Decree 248.

The China registration number is issued by GACC, whereas the overseas registration number is either your Australia export establishment number issued by the department or the number that you entered when completing self-registration, for example, your Australian Business Number (ABN) or Australian Company Number (ACN) or unique identifying number for your business.

The food facility registration and registration requirements for China do not apply to:

• fresh fruit orchards, fresh fruit packhouses and fresh fruit storage facilities.
• unprocessed wheat, barley and canola.

Exporters of these commodities should consult the department to ensure they are registered via the appropriate channels.

Article 75 of Decree 249 (under ‘supplementary provisions’) states that the safety oversight of import and export of food through mail, express delivery, cross-border e-commerce retail, or carried by travelers should be performed pursuant to the relevant GACC rules. eCommerce is outside the scope of the new import requirements, and businesses will need to comply with the GACC rules that apply to the specific pathway used. Businesses are recommended to work with their importer or agent to ensure their compliance with GACC provisions.

Supporting documentation for your applications varies by commodity. If you are registering for an Article 7 commodity, you may need to contact the department to discuss your specific CIFER documentation requirements.

All applications for Article 7 products are submitted to the department prior to being sent to GACC, for verifying of the information. Missing information or documentation will be identified at this point and contact will made to those impacted. Incomplete applications will not be submitted to GACC.

Once applications are submitted to GACC for their approval, the department has no oversight of the process. However, the earlier you provide your information to the department for verification and subsequent forwarding to GACC, the more time there will be for assessments on GACC’s side and time to provide and address any additional information requirements.

For Article 7 products, the department will only provide information on registrations to persons in management or control of the establishment to ensure privacy principles are met. For Article 9 products, companies may make their own commercial decisions.

The requirement for a company seal/stamp is set by GACC and is not a department requirement. The department has no ability to influence why GACC can reject an application however, our experience has shown that rejections have occurred based on a missing company stamp/seal. To minimise risk, please ensure all documentation is signed and stamped prior to submitting to the department.

If the product/s intended to export is an already approved registered product/s, then yes you can continue to export to China.

If you are adding a new product/HS code via the modification application process then you MUST wait for the product to be approved by China. Exporting unapproved product/s will risk detainment, rejection or destruction of the consignment.

If your application is ‘returned’ by GACC, it will be returned to the department through CIFER for action. The department will be in contact if we require further information from you.

If your application is ‘rejected’ by GACC, the application will return to your account, however you will not be able to continue progressing the same application. A rejected application is locked within the system and cannot be amended. A new application will need to be raised in CIFER.

China has advised that establishments are required to complete their CIFER registration details through a modification application. This action is not required when establishments have self-registered through CIFER and do not require departmental verification of their application.

If your registration was created by GACC as part of a departmental submission between October and December 2021, you must complete a modification application as only basic information was gathered at this point. For registrations expiring in the next 12 months, you must complete your registration details as soon as possible or before June 2023.

If your registration is due to expire in the next 12 months, the modification application is required to be approved before submitting an extension application to renew product registration in CIFER.

There are three main application statuses in CIFER that you need to be aware of:

• Waiting on acception – the application has been submitted to GACC and is awaiting assessment
• Being accepted by the GACC – the application is currently being assessed by GACC
• Approved – GACC has approved the application.

As noted in Decree 248, there are specific food products listed in Article 7 that require departmental verification as the competent authority for registrations within CIFER. Under Article 9 of the same decree, i.e. any other food products exported to China not listed in Article 7, the company must be self-register and manage within CIFER. The department has no role in CIFER registration and its management for Article 7 products.

If you do not have a CIFER account, the department can help create one for you using your Australian establishment number. If you are producing any other export food products not listed in Article 7, you can self-register and apply for product registrations directly through CIFER.

Currently the CIFER registration application process under the decrees has not been fully established for Article 7 products. Please contact the department at exportlisting@aff.gov.au.

If you currently have a registration for an Article 7 product category and you wish to add products to the same category, you can complete the application for modification to add or remove specific products/HS Codes from your registration. Always verify the HS/CIQ code with your importer. Please contact the at exportlisting@aff.gov.au department before starting your application.

If you manufacture, process or store food products other than those specified as an 'Article 7' product, you will need to self-register your business with China through the China Import Food Enterprise Registration (CIFER) system. These products are described under Article 9 of Decree 248.

For the labeling requirements, please refer to Degree 249 that outlines existing Chinese laws, regulation and standards for food product labels and packaging - Administrative Measures of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Food Safety (English Version) (customs.gov.cn)

Bilingual language (English/Chinese) labelling requirements have been confirmed for exported meat and seafood products, and existing labelling requirements for dairy products remain unchanged.

Other food product labelling and packaging must comply with the relevant existing Chinese laws, regulation and standards. Please note that China’s Food Safety Law stipulates that pre-packaged food must be labelled in Chinese.

The requirements under Decrees 248 and 249 came into effect from 1 January 2022.

The department understands that products arriving in China with a production date prior to 1 January 2022 are eligible for import under the previous labelling requirements. All food products that are registered should display the final processing facility registration number on the inner and outer packaging.

Products listed under Article 7 of Decree 248 can use either a GACC-issued registration number or the registration number issued by the overseas competent authority (the department) on the label.

For Article 9 products (that require self-registration with GACC through CIFER), you should use the number you entered when completing the self-registration process, for example, ABN, ACN or unique identifying number for your business.

The classification of a product is the decision of GACC in accordance with Decree 248. China may add or remove product category at any time.

Exporters need to work closely with their importers to determine appropriate codes. There is a search function available within CIFER which allows exporters to search applicable HS codes. Please refer to MAA2163, MAA2021-48, and MAA2021-22, and MAA2021-28 for more information on this.

No, raw products are not listed under CIFER.

CIFER is only for products for human consumption.

Failure to complete your extension application within the 3 month window may result in a loss of registration once your expiry date has passed. This will require completion of a new registration request.

Our current advice is No, the modification process is a pre-requisite to the extension application and must be done as soon as possible or by June 2023 at the latest. This is for those establishments with expiry dates within the next 12 months.

Failure to update and complete your registration details by June 2023 will most likely result in the loss of your China export registration.

Based on the information submitted in the application, the department will verify that all requirements (including all relevant documents) determined by China are met. Only when all requirements are complete, the department will then submit the application to GACC for their approval.

From this point, the department has no visibility of the approval timeframe. However, if feedback from GACC is provided, the department will be in touch with the applicant.

Under Article 16 of Decree 248, registration will be valid for up to five years. Article 20 of Decree 248 stipulates that the food facilities shall renew within three to six months before the registration expires (this is a literal translation).

Yes, applications for an extension must be made 3-6 months before your expiration date.

The department has no oversight of the CIFER system and the approval process within GACC.

Establishments may be requested to provide additional information prior to the final decision being made within GACC. The department encourages any establishment that has an application in CIFER to continue to check its progress through the Integrated Query menu.