Holding a food-safety certification and being approved to export to a specific country are two different things, and conflating them is one of the most common mistakes a distributor makes when vetting a pork supplier. China and Japan are among the most demanding markets for meat exporters, and both run their own government-to-government approval processes that sit on top of, not instead of, a supplier’s IFS or BRC certification. This guide walks through how that approval process actually works in each country, and what a distributor should verify before assuming a supplier can legally ship there.
What meat exporters need for China and Japan approval
Despite covering different regulators, forms, and terminology, meat export approval into a demanding market almost always rests on the same three pillars:
- An approved or listed facility. The specific slaughter, cutting, or processing site must appear on an official list of establishments eligible to export to that country — not just hold a general food-safety certificate.
- A government-to-government agreement or equivalence recognition. The exporting country’s competent authority (in Spain’s case, this would be the relevant national food-safety authority) must have an arrangement with the importing country’s regulator confirming that the exporting country’s oversight system is trusted.
- A shipment-level certificate. Each individual consignment needs its own veterinary or health certificate, issued at the time of export, confirming that specific shipment meets the destination country’s requirements.
Missing any one of the three blocks the shipment, regardless of how strong the other two are. A facility can be perfectly listed and still have a shipment rejected over a missing or incorrect certificate; a certificate can be flawlessly completed and still be worthless if the issuing facility isn’t on the approved list.
This structure explains why a supplier’s own food-safety certification, however genuine, cannot on its own answer the question “can you export to this country.” IFS Food and BRC Global Standard certification address whether a facility runs a sound food-safety and quality management system — they say nothing about whether that specific country’s government has agreed to recognize shipments from that facility. A distributor who accepts “we’re IFS certified” as proof of China or Japan eligibility is answering a different question than the one that actually matters.
How China’s approval process works
China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) is the single regulator overseeing this entire process for food imports, which makes China’s system comparatively more centralized than some other major markets. Overseas meat facilities must register through GACC’s CIFER system before their products can legally enter the country. According to a 2026 GACC compliance guide reported by PSR Compliance, meat is treated as a high-risk product category, meaning exporters need a government recommendation from their home-country food-safety authority before GACC will register the facility directly — the exporter cannot simply self-register a high-risk facility.
Registration itself is not indefinite: according to the same source, GACC registration is valid for 5 years, and an 18-digit GACC registration number must be printed directly on product packaging, meaning the registration isn’t just a background compliance record — it’s a number a distributor can actually check on the product itself.
The distinction between high-risk and low-risk categories also affects how directly a distributor can verify a supplier’s claims. Low-risk products can, according to the same guide, apply for GACC registration directly through the GACC Single Window system without a government recommendation first. High-risk categories including meat, dairy, seafood, and infant formula require that additional government-recommendation step, which means pork specifically always goes through the more demanding of the two paths — there’s no shortcut version of GACC registration available for meat regardless of how established the exporter is.
How Japan’s approval process works — and why it’s structured differently
Japan splits import oversight across two separate ministries, which is a meaningfully different structure from China’s single-regulator model. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) handles food-safety notifications and quarantine inspection, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) oversees animal and plant health, including phytosanitary certificates. According to a 2026 guide to Japanese import permits reported by Sino Shipping, missing or late submissions to either ministry can each independently stop a shipment: MHLW notifications must be submitted before departure, and MAFF phytosanitary certificates must be issued within 14 days of departure, with late submission resulting in automatic rejection.
For meat exporters specifically, Japan requires facility-level listing similar to China’s approach, but through a bilateral arrangement between the exporting country’s veterinary authority and Japan’s MHLW. For example, in the case of beef and offal exports from Ireland to Japan, Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) documentation confirms that eligible facilities are designated and listed by DAFM in agreement with Japan’s MHLW — meaning it’s a bilateral government arrangement, not something an individual exporter can apply for unilaterally. The same pattern holds for other exporting countries and other meat categories: a facility becomes eligible only once its home-country regulator and Japan’s ministries have agreed on mutual recognition.
China vs. Japan: how the two systems compare
| China (GACC) | Japan (MHLW / MAFF) | |
|---|---|---|
| Regulator(s) | Single authority: General Administration of Customs (GACC) | Split: MHLW (food safety) and MAFF (animal/plant health) |
| Facility approval route | CIFER registration, with government recommendation required for high-risk categories like meat | Bilateral listing agreed between exporter’s home authority and MHLW |
| Registration validity | 5 years | Ongoing, subject to periodic verification and removal for non-compliance |
| Checkable reference | 18-digit registration number required on packaging | Facility name/number matched against official certificate at the border |
| Common rejection causes | Incorrect labeling, missing registration numbers, translation errors | Late or missing MHLW notification, MAFF phytosanitary certificate issued outside the 14-day window |
What this means for a distributor evaluating a supplier
The practical takeaway is that “certified to export to China” or “approved for Japan” are claims that should come with a specific, checkable reference — not just a verbal assurance:
- For China, ask for the specific 18-digit GACC registration number, and confirm it appears on the actual product packaging rather than only in a document the supplier provides separately.
- For Japan, ask which specific facility is listed under the bilateral arrangement between the supplier’s home-country authority and Japan’s MHLW, since approval is facility-specific, not company-wide.
- For both markets, ask whether the supplier’s home-country food-safety authority has actually issued the government recommendation or listing that the destination country’s approval depends on — a supplier’s own certification, however strong, cannot substitute for this government-to-government step.
- Ask how the supplier handles shipment-level certificates, since even a fully approved facility can have an individual shipment rejected over paperwork errors at that final stage.
A supplier that can answer all four with specific registration numbers and named authorities is verifiably further along than one who answers only in general terms about being “China-approved” or “Japan-approved.”
What actually causes shipments to get rejected
Even fully approved facilities lose shipments over avoidable paperwork and labeling problems, not just underlying food-safety failures. According to GACC’s own 2025 rejection reporting, summarized by Gourmet Pro, frequent causes for Chinese import rejections include incorrect labeling, inconsistent documentation, and missing facility registration numbers, with many rejections also stemming from translation errors rather than an actual defect in the product. Regular audits and pre-clearance label checks are the practical countermeasure the same source points to.
That pattern — rejection over documentation rather than product safety — mirrors what shows up in the U.S. recall data covered in earlier articles in this series: a large share of import-related enforcement action traces back to paperwork and registration gaps, not contamination. For a distributor, this has a direct practical implication: a supplier’s shipment-level documentation discipline is at least as important a risk factor as their underlying food-safety system, and it’s worth asking specifically how a supplier handles labeling accuracy and translation for each destination market, not just whether their facility is registered in principle.
What this looks like in practice
La Comarca Meats operates a dedicated production line, with its own packaging and freezing area, registered for export to the Asian market, including China. The company’s quality and food safety policy documents its certifications and export approvals directly, and its full production chain — from genetics and breeding through slaughter, cutting, and freezing — is controlled in-house, which supports the facility-level traceability that both China’s and Japan’s approval systems are built around.
Distributors evaluating export-market approvals can contact us to request specific registration numbers and facility listings directly, or review the full product range of fresh, frozen, and cured pork available for wholesale distribution.
Frequently asked questions
Is a food-safety certification like IFS or BRC the same as being approved to export to China or Japan?
No. IFS and BRC certify a facility’s food-safety and quality management system. Export approval into China or Japan is a separate government-to-government process — a facility can hold either certification and still not be approved to export to a specific country.
Can a supplier register a single facility once and export to any country?
No. Facility approval is typically country-specific and sometimes market-specific within a country. A facility approved for China’s GACC system is not automatically approved for Japan, and vice versa — each requires its own registration or bilateral listing process.
How long does GACC registration last once granted?
GACC registration is valid for 5 years, after which it must be renewed. The registration number is required to appear on product packaging, giving distributors a directly checkable reference point.
Why does Japan involve two different ministries instead of one?
Japan divides food-safety oversight (MHLW) from animal and plant health oversight (MAFF) as separate regulatory functions, meaning a shipment can be rejected for missing requirements from either ministry independently, even if the other ministry’s requirements were met correctly.
