In recent years, with the development of cross-border e-commerce, more imported food has entered people's daily life. However, some imported foods do not have Chinese labels.

The Food Safety Law stipulates that imported prepackaged foods and food additives should have Chinese labels; where there should be a manual in accordance with laws, there should also be a manual in Chinese. It means that imported food need to be affixed a qualified Chinese label before it can be sold. In addition, according to the relevant management regulations of China, imported food should have the inspection certificate issued by the entry-exit inspection and quarantine department for product traceability. If the imported food has arrived but is not labeled, it needs to be rectified in the customs supervision warehouse.

However, there are some special cases. For example, food imported through cross-border e-commerce retail is not mandatory to be affixed Chinese labels. The Notice on Improving the Supervision of Cross-border E-commerce Retail Imports stipulates that relevant commodities purchased directly from overseas may not have Chinese labels, and Chinese electronic labels of commodities are available through the website.

Overall, whether the lack of Chinese labels for imported foods is legal depends on the specific situation. However, even in the absence of mandatory Chinese labeling, supervision and tips should not be absent.

As the operator of imported food, cross-border e-commerce enterprises should bear the main responsibility for the quality and safety of the commodities, and display the risk notice in the commodity ordering website or other prominent positions together with cross-border e-commerce platforms. For cross-border e-commerce platforms, whether it is the self-operated business of the platform or the non-self-operated business dominated by overseas sellers, the platform needs to conduct a compliance review of the commodities provided to ensure that they comply with China's laws and regulations and quality standards. In case of disputes, it is necessary to coordinate the communication and negotiation between overseas sellers and consumers in a timely manner.

Source: China Economy

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