AQSIQ Cotton Registration

According to Importing and Exporting Commodities Inspection Law of China and its implementation regulations, AQSIQ decides to carry out cotton registration management to the overseas cotton suppliers exporting to China mainland in order to strengthen supervision and management of Inspection and quarantine which prevent taking substandard cotton products as fine products and adulteration and ensure the quality of imported cotton.

1. Cotton suppliers applying for the registration should be subject to the following conditions:

(a) The company is legal in the country or region where it locates

(b)The company has a processing site and a certain scale of operation

(c)The company has a stable supplying source and has measurements of quality control of cotton raw material that is supplied

(d)Familiar with Chinese inspection and quarantine regulations and relevant requirements on cotton trade

(e)Previously had no serious quality problems, no harmful substances, no record of serious consequences in the cotton trading

2. Foreign cotton suppliers should submit written documents to AQSIQ in Chinese or both Chinese and English when they apply for cotton registration:

(a)The overseas suppliers of exporting cotton apply for the registration

(b)The business registration documents which are effective and legal

(c)The basic materials of supplier's production, operation and quality control

(d)The other relevant documents required by AQSIQ

3. Once the submitted documents meet the requirements, AQSIQ will accept the cotton registration application and inform the overseas suppliers.

Additional documents, if required, should be submitted in the first 5 working days. If the applicants cannot submit the supplements in 20 working days, the application will be abandoned.

4. A team of inspectors appointed by AQSIQ will carry out assessment of the overseas suppliers' application in two months. If necessary, they will evaluate the applicants on the scene. Onsite assessment includes processing ability, quality control and management, inspection, packaging, storage management and etc.

5. The applicants will be registered AQSIQ Cotton after assessment if they meet all the requirements. AQSIQ will issue the cotton registration certificate and notify the applicant. If not qualified, the applicant will not be registered and can only apply again after two months.  

6. AQSIQ Cotton Registration Certificate is valid for 3 years. 

Registered companies should apply renewing the application 3 months before it expires. For information change, registration holders can submit an application for the registration information change.  

7. If documents of application are found untruthful after inspection, the applicants will not be registered or the qualification of registration will be cancelled for the registered applicants. 

When the registered overseas suppliers export cotton to China, the importer in China should provide registration certificate of the overseas supplier to inspection and quarantine agency of entry port. When arriving, goods can be inspected in destination port.  

If the overseas suppliers of cotton are not registered, the importer should agree in contract on inspection before shipment. The inspection agency, appointed by inspection and quarantine organization or AQSIQ, will carry out inspection before shipment. When goods arrive, the inspection and quarantine agency will carry out inspection at the entry port. Basic information of the overseas supplier and statement of qualified products are required during entry inspection. 

AQSIQ carries out assessment of quality and credibility rating to overseas cotton suppliers according to the actual quality of arrival. Credit assessment and inspection management refer to the relevant regulations.