On November 15, the General Administration of Customs issued an announcement that fresh coconuts from Indonesia that meet relevant requirements will be allowed to be imported.
Indonesia is the world's second largest coconut producer, second only to the Philippines. In 2023, Indonesia's coconut production will be 2.83 million tons, and the export value of coconut products will reach US$1.55 billion, accounting for 38.3% of the global market share. The main export destinations include China, Malaysia and Singapore. The main coconut products exported by Indonesia include coconut oil derivatives, coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut shell activated carbon and coconut shreds.
The announcement shows that coconut orchards and packaging plants exported to China must be reviewed by the National Quarantine Bureau of the Republic of Indonesia and approved for registration by the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China. The quarantine pests of concern to China include spiral whiteflies, black silk shield scales, mango oyster scales, South China hip mealybugs, Ocean hip mealybugs and seven-pointed star wax scales.
Coconut orchards exported to China should establish and implement Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to ensure the traceability of the production process, maintain sanitary conditions in the orchard, and implement integrated pest management (IPM), such as pest monitoring, chemical or biological control, and agricultural operations. The packaging factory for coconuts exported to China should be clean and hygienic, with hardened floors, and have raw material storage sites and finished product warehouses. During the processing and packaging of coconuts exported to China, they should be manually selected, graded, and cleaned to remove diseased, insect-infested, rotten, deformed fruits, branches and leaves, fruit stalks or other plant residues and soil.