Often Chinese nutritional import sticker over labels are stuck on at customs by your importer in China, however in some circumstances it makes far more sense to do these at the location of production. Custom and quarantine officials will be quick to stop incorrectly labelled goods at the border in China, especially during your ‘first time import’ when checks are most rigorous. In fact 90% of all food and drink destroyed at customs in China is due to incorrect labelling. Any incorrectly labelled goods which manage to pass through customs without hinderance may however give you another problem down the line -This is China’s 10x rule.

Consumers which spot issues with labels are entitled to a refund of 10x the price they paid for the product. So if they paid 30RMB in store – they can claim back 300RMB.

This has spawned an entire mini industry of shoppers who actively seek out incorrectly labelled food and drink products with the purpose of buying up stock, to be compensated 10x what they paid. Understandably this causes huge problems all the way back through the value chain. For distributors, importers and brands who don’t have the relevant checks in place to keep this from happening.

Setting up labels and compliance properly will help you avoid the majority of potential issues, not just at customs but all the way to the end user. Always have labels checked and double checked – sending images of new batches to your importer and agent as an extra pair of eyes is a good idea. Be aware of production and best before date formats, Chinese dates work backwards – Year, Month, Day and if this format is written in Chinese characters on your label you’ll need to make sure your printing matches up.

If you have any questions regarding labelling for China, feel free to drop us an email at info@adnimports.com.