One year anniversary of "batch inspection (quarantine)" Weihai kimchi export "fresh" without worries (picture)

The picture shows customs officers conducting on-site inspections of exported kimchi. Photo by Wang Yanli

Recently, the production workshop of Weihai Soma Food Co., Ltd. has been busy. After sorting, cleaning, and pickling, kimchi is released under the "batch inspection (quarantine)" supervision mode of customs and will soon be shipped to the Korean market by express ship. As the first enterprise to undertake the pilot reform of "batch inspection (quarantine)" for the export of pickled vegetables nationwide, this company's export performance is particularly outstanding and has become a direct beneficiary of the reform dividend.

A year ago, export kimchi enterprises were still facing the problem of customs clearance time. In the past, every batch of goods had to wait for on-site inspection and customs clearance took 2 to 4 days. As a fermented ready to eat food, kimchi had strict requirements for storage temperature and logistics efficiency, and temporary orders were simply not accepted, "recalled company manager Pan Feng. In addition, the cost pressure of mandatory certification in the Korean market greatly limited the company's international competitiveness.

In January 2025, Weihai Customs, a subsidiary of Qingdao Customs, took the lead in launching a pilot reform of "batch inspection (quarantine)" for exported pickled vegetables nationwide. The regulatory unit was adjusted from "each batch of declared goods" to "batch inspection unit". After the first batch of goods in the same batch passed the on-site inspection, subsequent goods can be released only based on document review. This not only greatly improves regulatory efficiency, but also helps enterprises seize the international market.

Now the clearance time has been compressed to 1 to 2 days, and the efficiency has doubled directly, "Pan Feng calculated. In the past year of reform, the improvement of enterprise warehousing turnover efficiency has reduced logistics costs by nearly 20%, and the occupation of working capital has been greatly reduced. At the same time, the improvement in efficiency has also led to an increase in orders. The company not only ships 4 to 5 containers steadily every week, but also successfully expands its products to the Southeast Asian market. By 2025, the export volume will reach 5565 tons, a year-on-year increase of 43%.

In order to ensure product quality while accelerating reform, Weihai Customs has established a portrait database for kimchi export enterprises such as Soma Food based on the "one enterprise, one policy" model, providing precise guidance for enterprises to improve the self inspection and self-control requirements of key indicators such as raw material pollutant screening, fermentation process salinity, and microorganisms, ensuring that products meet international standards.

According to statistics, in 2025, Weihai Customs will supervise the export of kimchi worth 31.8 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 50.1%. Among them, 132 batches with a value of 17.73 million yuan will be supervised through the "batch inspection (quarantine)" mode. (Xu Ge/Text)