China issues new regulations on agricultural imports, putting additional pressure on nearly 2,600 Vietnamese products. The SPS Vietnam office has just released a Vietnamese translation of the user manual for the CIFER system of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), making it easier for Vietnamese businesses to register for food exports to the Chinese market. According to the Office, the published document aims to assist businesses in searching for, registering new, amending, renewing, canceling registrations, and tracking the status of their applications on the CIFER system – a mandatory platform for many food groups imported into China. Do businesses exporting food to China have additional options for self-searching? Deputy Minister Vo Van Hung visits an agricultural processing plant in the South. Photo: Tuan Tran. Having a Vietnamese-language guide is considered to significantly reduce technical barriers for businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that often struggle to access specialized documents in English or Chinese. Based on the information provided, businesses can access the system at https://cifer.singlewindow.cn to carry out online procedures related to registering food exports to China. The system allows businesses to create accounts, submit applications, upload attached documents, track processing progress, and receive feedback from Chinese authorities. One notable point is that China currently requires 18 food groups to be proposed for registration by the competent authority of the exporting country before being considered for GACC code issuance. These groups include seafood, meat and meat products, dairy, bird's nest, honey, spices, dried fruits and vegetables, seeds, health supplements, and foods for special diets... Items not included in the 18 groups above can be registered directly with GACC by the business itself. This means businesses need to correctly identify the product group from the outset to avoid having their application rejected or experiencing delays in processing. The handbook also notes that each business is only allowed to register one account on the CIFER system. In cases where a business has both products that require self-registration and products that require approval from competent authorities, the business does not need to create a new account but only needs to perform additional verification with the relevant authorities. According to the guidelines, the registration process requires businesses to declare detailed information about their factory, production lines, capacity, trade situation with China in the last two years, raw materials used, pesticides, production processes, and food safety commitments. Many types of documents must be uploaded to the system, such as production licenses, factory floor plans, the most recent inspection records from relevant authorities, product photos, and product labels. Notably, the document indicates that rejected applications will not be edited; businesses must resubmit them from scratch. Therefore, accurately preparing information and documents from the outset is considered crucial in saving time and costs. In addition to new registrations, the CIFER system manages the entire business profile lifecycle, including information modifications, registration renewals, registration cancellations, and re-inspections. If a business changes its information while its license is still valid, it must proactively update the information in the system to avoid impacting its export operations. China's focus on traceability and registration requirements for imported food products comes as the country strengthens cross-border food safety management. For Vietnam, this presents both compliance pressure and an opportunity to promote production standardization and improve the quality of export goods. The SPS Vietnam office stated that during the process of using documents and operating on the CIFER system, localities, associations, and businesses can report difficulties to receive timely guidance and support.