Shantou boasts an extensive coastline, a dense water network, abundant sunlight, and sufficient rainfall. Its locally produced agricultural and food products—such as aquatic products, laver, beef balls, and fish balls—boast unique flavors and are well-received in overseas markets.
To ensure the smooth import and export of perishable fresh agricultural and food products, Shantou Customs launched the “Green Clearance Initiative for Agricultural and Food Products.” It established a “green channel” for local inspection of imported and exported agricultural and food products, implemented 24/7 appointment-based inspection and customs clearance (covering weekdays and weekends), and combined it with customs facilitation measures like priority inspection and fast clearance. These efforts fully guarantee the safe and convenient customs clearance of agricultural and food products.
“The beef balls we produce have a shelf life of only 7 days when frozen. The customs ‘green channel’ enables ‘zero delay’ and ‘zero detention’ throughout the process, which maximizes the preservation of the product’s flavor,” said Zhang Chuanjie, Manager of Chaoshi Frozen Food Factory in Chenghai District, Shantou City.
Since 2022, Chenghai Customs has conducted 29 research trips to Shantou Jinping Food Chamber of Commerce and enterprises across Chaoshan. Focused on expanding the export of characteristic agricultural and food products—including aquatic products, braised lion-head geese, and beef balls—the customs listened to enterprises’ development needs and solved 26 pressing issues for them.
At the same time, in line with the demand that most agricultural and food products within its jurisdiction supply the Hong Kong market, the customs keeps real-time track of enterprises’ export plans. It leverages its advantages in risk monitoring for exported animal-derived food safety and the testing capabilities of its in-jurisdiction laboratories to realize “one-stop” testing for exported products and full-chain traceability of food supplied to Hong Kong.
“Preserving freshness for export has also helped secure the overseas market for agricultural and food products. Data shows that from January to July 2022, Shantou Customs supervised the export of 25,000 tons of agricultural and food products (primarily for Hong Kong), a year-on-year increase of 10.2%.”
