Exporting Food & Health Products to China — 2026 Compliance Brief

Executive view

Most overseas food and health exporters lose time not at the factory but at the border — because compliance is a *sequence*, and they start it too late. The product itself is rarely the problem; the registration and labeling order is.

The gates, in order

• GACC overseas facility registration — the producing facility must be registered with China customs before product can clear. This is upstream of everything else.
• GB standard conformity — the product must conform to the relevant national food safety standards, including additives and contaminant limits.
• Chinese label pre-compliance — labels must meet Chinese labeling rules; this is a frequent rejection point.
• Health functional food path — products making health claims need either the registration ("blue hat") or the filing route, which is a project in its own right.

What exporters underestimate

• The lead time of facility registration relative to a launch date.
• That a compliant Western label is *not* a compliant Chinese label.
• The