Beijing authorities asked importers on Monday to stop frozen food imports from countries suffering from COVID-19 outbreaks, after several cases of imported seafood products testing positive for the virus.
“Customs and local governments have repeatedly detected the coronavirus in imported cold chain food, proving it risks contamination,” the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau said in a statement issued to import companies, according to Reuters. The bureau urged them to monitor the overseas pandemic situation and “proactively avoid importing cold chain food from areas heavily hit by the coronavirus” and make alternative plans for imports.
Earlier in September, Chinese authorities announced last week that they will suspend imports from companies for a week if frozen food products test positive for coronavirus for the first or second time. In case the products test back positive for a third time or more, imports from the producer will be suspended for four weeks, China’s General Administration of Customs said in a statement.
Beijing had already tightened checks on imported frozen food cargoes and banned imports from some foreign meat processing plants, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the global food sector, according to Reuters.