Announcement No. 222 of 2025 of the General Administration of Customs (announcement on quarantine requirements for imported fresh nuts and nuts from South Africa)
Announcement [2025] No. 222
In accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of China and the provisions of the General Administration of Customs of the people's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Chinese side) and the Ministry of agriculture of the Republic of South Africa (hereinafter referred to as the South Africa) on the plant quarantine requirements for the export of South African fresh stone fruits to China, the import of South African fresh stone fruits meeting the following relevant requirements is allowed from now on.
1、 Quarantine basis
（1） Biosafety law of the people's Republic of China;
（2） Law of the people's Republic of China on the entry and exit animal and plant quarantine and its implementing regulations;
（3） Food safety law of the people's Republic of China and its implementation regulations;
（4） Measures for supervision and administration of inspection and Quarantine of imported fruits;
（5） Protocol between the General Administration of Customs of the people's Republic of China and the Ministry of agriculture of the Republic of South Africa on plant quarantine requirements for the export of South African fresh stone fruits to China.
2、 Name of goods allowed to enter the country
Fresh stone fruits (hereinafter referred to as stone fruits) include peach (Prunus persica, English name peach), nectarine (Prunus persica var. nucifera, English name nectarine), Li (Prunus salicina, English name plum), apricot (Prunus armeniaca, English name apricot) and prune (Prunus domestica, English name prune).
3、 Permitted origin
South Africa drupe producing region.
4、 Approved orchards and packaging plants
The stone fruit orchards, packaging plants and cold treatment facilities exported to China shall be reviewed by the South and approved by the Chinese side for registration. The registration information includes the name, address and registration code, so as to accurately trace the source of the exported goods when they do not comply with the relevant provisions of this announcement. Before the export season every year, the South will provide the Chinese side with the list of registered enterprises, which will be published on the website of the General Administration of Customs after being reviewed and approved by the Chinese side.
5、 List of quarantine pests of concern to China
1. thaumatotibia leucotreta
2. ceratis capitata
3. ceratis cosyra
4. cerattis quinaria
5. ceratis quilicii
6. ceratis Rosa
7. Cydia pomonella
8. epichoristodes acerbella
9. lozotaenia capensana
10. diaspidiotus africanus
11. pseudococcus longispinus
12. Frankliniella schultzei
13. brachycaudus persicae
14. Pseudomonas syringae pv. morsprunorum
15. plum viroid 1 apscaviroid latenspruni (plum viroid I)
6、 Pre export management
（1） Orchard management.
1. under the supervision of the south, the orchard exported to China should establish and implement good agricultural practices (GAP), including maintaining orchard sanitary conditions, timely cleaning up fallen fruits, etc., and implement integrated pest management (IPM), such as pest investigation, monitoring, chemical or biological prevention and control, and agricultural operations, to avoid or minimize the occurrence of quarantine pests of concern to China. The specific monitoring plan and integrated management measures for pests shall be approved by the South and provided to the Chinese side upon request.
2. the orchards exported to China must be monitored and investigated by technicians who are familiar with plant quarantine under the guidance of the south, and the technicians must be trained by the South or its authorized institutions. If quarantine pests of concern to China are found, corresponding control measures shall be taken immediately.
3. the orchard exported to China shall keep pest monitoring, investigation and control records for at least two years and provide them to the Chinese party upon request. The pest monitoring and control record shall at least include the monitoring time, the name of the pest and the control measures taken; The chemical control record shall include the name, active ingredient, concentration, application date and other details of all chemical reagents used during the growing season.
4. for fruit fly and apple curly moth, the orchard to be exported to China must take comprehensive field management measures, including monitoring and trapping of fruit fly (including Mediterranean fruit fly, mango fruit fly, Quebec fruit fly, five point fruit fly and natal fruit fly) and apple curly moth, and using chemical or biological control methods to reduce the population density of fruit fly and apple curly moth. The monitoring time shall be from the beginning of flowering period to the end of harvest period.
Fruit fly traps (such as triangle type and barrel type) should be used for monitoring in orchards exported to China, and registered Mediterranean fruit fly baits should be used as lures. The density of traps is 2 per square kilometer (at least 2 traps for orchards less than 1 square kilometer), and the traps are checked once a week. If the density of fruit flies captured by each trap is greater than 0.7 per day, effective control is required.
In order to monitor the pests of the heteromorphic Apple curly moth, sex pheromones were used to trap it in the orchard. The density of traps is 2 per square kilometer (at least 2 traps for orchards less than 1 square kilometer), and the traps are checked once a week. In case of the discovery of the apple curly moth, appropriate physical, chemical or biological control measures shall be taken immediately.
5. for the codling moth, the trapping monitoring of codling moth should be carried out in the stone fruit production area and relevant areas (orchards, packaging plants and surrounding production areas), and the trap density is 1 per 2 hectares. The monitoring time starts from the flowering period to the end of the stone fruit packaging work. The trap shall be checked at least once every two weeks, and the lure core shall be replaced in time according to the instructions. If three or more codling moths are found in the trap during each inspection, the prevention and control measures shall be taken immediately. Orchards with incomplete prevention and control will be disqualified from exporting to China during the export season.
6. for pathogens of concern to China, such as sclerocarpa canker and plum virus 1, it is necessary to establish an orchard monitoring system, strengthen orchard management, and carry out field monitoring and investigation at least once a month during the growth period of the sclerocarpa producing area. Once suspected infection symptoms are found, samples should be taken in time and sent to the laboratory for molecular biological identification. If it is confirmed that the pathogens concerned by the Chinese side are infected, comprehensive prevention and control measures must be taken to control the occurrence of pathogens. If the prevention and control is not complete, the orchard will be disqualified from exporting to China.
7. for pests of concern to China, such as Myzus persicae, African oyster scale, carnation curling moth in South Africa, thrips conyzoides, apple leafroller, and pink scale, monitoring and investigation should be carried out at least once every two weeks from flowering to the end of harvest, focusing on the inspection of fruits, fruit stalks, leaves and other parts. If pests or their corresponding harmful symptoms are found, prevention and control measures should be taken in time to control the occurrence of pests or maintain the low prevalence level of pests, and ensure that the stone fruit does not carry these quarantine pests.
（2） Packaging plant management.
1. the processing, packaging, storage and shipping of nuts must be carried out under the supervision of Nanfang or its authorized personnel.
2. in the process of post harvest processing and packaging of stone fruits, selection, grading and other processes shall be carried out to ensure that there are no live insects, defective fruits, branches, leaves, soil, etc.
3. the reception, processing, processing, storage and other functional areas of nuts exported to China are relatively independent and reasonably arranged, and isolation measures are taken with non exported fruits.
（3） Packaging requirements.
1. the packaging materials shall be clean, sanitary, unused and meet the requirements of China's relevant plant quarantine. If wooden packaging is used, it must comply with international phytosanitary measure No. 15 (ISPM 15).
2. if the packed nuts need to be stored, they should be put into storage immediately and stored separately to avoid re infection by pests. Each packing box must be marked with fruit name, country, origin (such as district, city or county), orchard registration number, packaging plant registration number and other information. Each packing box and tray shall be marked with "exported to the people's Republic of China" or "exported to the people's Republic of China" in Chinese or English.
3. containers carrying nuts exported to China must check whether they have good sanitary conditions when packing, and necessary insect prevention measures should be taken when packing.
（4） Requirements for quarantine treatment.
For fruit fly and apple curly moth, the nuts exported to China should be treated with cold treatment or fumigation under the supervision of the South or its authorized personnel.
The cold treatment shall be carried out in accordance with the cold treatment operation procedure before export (see Annex 1) or the cold treatment operation procedure during transportation (see Annex 2), and the treatment index requirements are as follows: -0.6 ° C or below (pulp temperature), continuous treatment for 22 days or more.
Methyl bromide fumigant is used for fumigation, and the treatment indexes are as follows: the temperature is 21.1 ° C or above, the dosage of fumigant is 32 g/m3, and the fumigation duration under normal atmospheric pressure is not less than 2 h; and the minimum concentration during fumigation is not less than 26 g/m3 after 0.5 h, and not less than 16 g/m3 after 2 h.
（5） Pre export inspection and quarantine.
1. Nanfang or its authorized personnel shall conduct sampling inspection on each batch of stone fruits exported to China according to the proportion of 2% of each batch of goods. The minimum sampling quantity is 1200 fruits. At the same time, at least 60 fruits in 2% of the samples or suspicious fruits found during the inspection shall be dissected. If there is no plant quarantine problem within two years, the sampling proportion can be reduced to 1%, but the sampling amount shall not be less than 1200 fruits.
2. if live quarantine pests concerned by China are found, the whole batch of goods shall not be exported to China. Nanfang shall find out the causes and take improvement measures, keep inspection records and provide them to the Chinese side upon request.
（6） Phytosanitary certificate requirements.
1. for the quarantined nuts, South China shall issue a phytosanitary certificate, indicating the orchard registration number, packaging plant registration number and container number, and indicate in the additional statement: "this consultation companies with the requirements specified in the protocol of phytosanitary requirements for export of fresh stone fruits from the South Africa to China, and is free from quarantine pests of concern to China.". ）
2. for the cold treatment before export, the treatment temperature, duration and the name or number of treatment facilities shall be indicated on the phytosanitary certificate. For the implementation of cold treatment in transit, the plant quarantine certificate shall be marked with "cold treatment in transit", and the treatment temperature, duration, container number and sealing number shall be indicated.
For goods subject to pre export fumigation treatment, information such as the amount of methyl bromide used for fumigation treatment, duration, treatment temperature and the name or number of treatment facilities shall be indicated in the column of quarantine treatment in the plant quarantine certificate.
7、 Entry inspection and quarantine and unqualified treatment
When the nuts exported to China arrive at the port of entry in China, the Chinese customs shall implement inspection and quarantine in accordance with the following requirements.
（1） Relevant certificate and identification verification.
1. check whether the imported nuts have obtained the entry animal and Plant Quarantine License.
2. check whether the plant quarantine certificate conforms to the provisions of item (6) of Article 6 of this announcement.
3. check whether the marks on the packing cases and pallets comply with the provisions of item (3) of Article 6 of this announcement.
4. for goods subject to cold treatment before export, it is necessary to check whether the plant quarantine certificate, the cold treatment result report signed and confirmed by the South and the fruit temperature probe correction record meet the provisions of item (4) of Article 6 of this announcement.
5. for goods subject to cold treatment during transportation, it is necessary to check whether the plant quarantine certificate, cold treatment report, fruit temperature probe correction record, etc. meet the provisions of item (4) of Article 6 of this announcement.
6. for goods fumigated before export, it is necessary to check whether the phytosanitary certificate meets the provisions of item (4) of Article 6 of this announcement.
（2） Entry inspection and quarantine.
1. nuts exported to China shall be imported from the port where the Chinese side allows the import of fruits.
2. when the nuclear fruit arrives at the port of entry in China, the Chinese customs will check the relevant documents and marks, and implement inspection and quarantine in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations, national standards and the requirements of this announcement.
（3） Handling of nonconformities.
1. if it is found that the goods are from unregistered orchards, packaging plants or processing facilities, the goods are not allowed to enter the country.
2. if the cold treatment is found to be invalid or failed, the batch of goods will be treated by cold treatment (which can be carried out in this container), return, destruction and other measures.
3. if the quarantine pest concerned by China or the new quarantine pest in South Africa is found alive, or soil, or plant debris, the batch of goods will be returned, destroyed or disinfected.
4. if it is found that the goods do not comply with Chinese food safety laws and regulations and national standards, the goods will be returned or destroyed.
It is hereby announced.
Attachment:
1. operation procedure for cold treatment before export.docx
2. operation procedure for cold treatment during transportation.docx
General Administration of Customs
November 14, 2025