The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have signed an agreement giving USDA authority to certify animal feed and pet food products for export. As a first step in the implementation of this agreement, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is operating a program to facilitate the export of *processed plant-based feed products from the U.S. to China in accordance with the requirements established by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China (AQSIQ). 

AQSIQ requirements mandate that U.S. exporters of plant-based feed products meet the following criteria in order to pass customs inspection into China: 

1. The exported product must originate from a registered U.S. facility; 

2. The registered facility may be subject to audits by AQSIQ officials; and 

3. The exported product must be accompanied by a shipment-by-shipment certificate. 

In order to meet AQSIQ requirements and further facilitate trade, AMS will open a web-based application to build a list of registered U.S. plant-based feed facilities for submission to Chinese authorities. Parties interested in beginning or continuing shipping their plant-based feeds to China should fill out the AMS web-based application for service at the earliest convenience. Click here for application for service.

Once the application for service is received, AMS will evaluate the application for completeness before entering the applying facility on the list of registered facilities that will be submitted to Chinese officials. 

Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis; updated facility lists will be available to Chinese officials through the AMS website.

Details surrounding the registered facility audits by AQSIQ officials and the certification requirements are still being negotiated with China. The Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will work with AMS to provide updated information on those requirements as it becomes available. 

*China defines processed plant-based feed products as feed derived from grain and oil crops, such as wheat bran, bran coat, soybean cake/meal, peanut cake/meal, rapeseed cake/meal, cottonseed cake/meal, sunflower cake/meal, safflower seed cake/meal, linseed cake/meal, coconut cake/meal, palm cake/meal, DDGS from maize or cassava, and beet pulp. Excludes forage grasses and raw feed grains.