Xinmin Evening News (Reporter Guo Jianfeng) In the early morning of August 26, 45 tons of fresh avocados arrived at the Port area of Waigaoqiao in Shanghai on the cargo ship Pierkaya, marking the smooth arrival of the first batch of large-scale imports of African fresh avocados exported to China. The Waigaoqiao Port Area Customs under Shanghai Customs opened a "green channel" for the first time to ensure the safe and rapid customs clearance of fresh avocados that meet the quarantine requirements.
Pictured: Shanghai Customs guarantees the rapid and safe customs clearance of the first batch of African avocado imported by sea Sun Peng
"This batch of fresh avocados comes from Kenya, and before arriving in Hong Kong, we used the customs and enterprise liaison mechanism to dock importers in advance to grasp the arrival information." Coordinate and arrange human resources, implement customs clearance facilitation measures such as advance declaration and unaccompanied inspection, open up 'green channels', and ensure that the goods are inspected as soon as they arrive at the port. Luo Kaiming, chief of the inspection section of the outer port customs responsible for the inspection and inspection of imported fruits, said. After the arrival of the batch of avocados, the customs officers carefully verified the quarantine permits for imported animals and plants and the official plant quarantine certificates of the exporting countries, focusing on checking whether there were quarantine pests such as Mediterranean flies, and strictly controlling the quality and safety of imported agricultural products. After ensuring that the inspection and quarantine requirements were met, the batch of avocados was successfully released in the afternoon of the same day and will be shipped to major domestic fruit markets.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on August 16, "The Chinese government will support and facilitate more high-quality African agricultural food products to enter the Chinese market and bring more tangible benefits to the people of China and Africa." "Kenya is the largest exporter of avocados in Africa. In January this year, China and Kenya signed the Protocol for the Export of Kenyan Fresh Avocados (Avocados) to China. On June 1, the General Administration of Customs issued an announcement allowing Kenyan fresh avocados that meet quarantine requirements to be exported to China. On July 27, a small batch of Kenyan fresh avocado samples have passed through the port of Pudong International Airport and successfully passed the customs inspection and quarantine.
"While strictly controlling the quality and safety of imported agricultural products, Shanghai Customs will fully support more High-quality African specialty agricultural and food products to clear customs safely and efficiently at Shanghai ports, enriching the diversified choices of domestic consumers and helping to deepen Economic and Trade Cooperation on Agricultural Products between China and Africa." Chen Zhongbing, deputy director of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Department of Shanghai Customs, said.
It is understood that according to the quarantine requirements of the mainland customs import plants, fresh avocados must go through the steps of soaking and cleaning, brushing the fruits, picking and removing inferior fruits before exporting, and must not carry branches, leaves, roots and soil, etc., to ensure that the exported avocados do not carry live harmful organisms. Strict quarantine procedures and advanced cold chain technology ensure the quality of Kenyan fresh avocados, and also help Kenyan fresh avocados usher in a broad market prospect in China.
"The efficient and convenient customs clearance guarantee of the customs has strengthened our confidence in further expanding the scale of African agricultural product imports!" Liu Mosu, general manager of the importer Shanghai Niuguo Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., said that after the completion of customs clearance, the batch of avocados will also be unified in quality inspection and processing according to the strict standards of the enterprise, and it is expected to be sold on the retail channel in early September. "We have established cooperation with three large orchards in Kenya and plan to import about 200 tonnes during the avocado harvest this year. With the experience and cooperation of this season, we have a weekly import plan from next year onwards, and the annual import volume is expected to exceed 9000 tons. ”