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China's government has launched an action plan to inspect cooking oils aimed at standardising production norms and ensuring quality and safety, according to a report from the US Department of Agriculture.
The announcement, issued on 18 April by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), came partly in response to food safety incidents in China during 2024. The plan outlines how local and national authorities will cooperate to enforce regulations across the entire cooking oil value chain, including production, sale and transport, according to a report published by USDA on 28 April.
The plan seeks to standardise production norms and ensure the quality and safety of cooking oils, with inspections focusing on the following points:
Under the national plan, measures being implemented by SAMR include:
These regulations apply to both domestically produced and imported products, as well as to products sold online or through traditional retail outlets. Local authorities will step up inspections and enforcement from April through December 2025, according to a report by the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
These measures followed reports in May 2024 that cooking oils had been contaminated during transport, affecting several oilseed crushing companies in China. Government bodies, including SAMR and the Ministry of Transport, carried out joint investigations into these incidents.
In November 2024, China notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of a new national standard titled "Hygienic Requirements for Bulk Transport of Edible Vegetable Oils" under code G/TBT/N/CHN/1943.
In November 2024, the Chinese authority also issued the final version of the mandatory national standard GB 44917-2024, which took effect on 1 February 2025 and governs hygiene requirements for the loading, unloading, transport and record-keeping of bulk liquid cooking oils in China.
Source: Al Mal Forum