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The extension comes just days before the new rules, which are
part of a drive by China to boost oversight of its sprawling
food supply chain, were due to come into force.
Jerome Lepeintre, minister counselor for health and food safety
at the European Union delegation in Beijing, said he received
official documents on Monday night confirming the decision to
delay had been logged with the World Trade Organization (WTO),
as required by global trade rules.
Lepeintre said the move was "very positive" and would give
exporters time to comply with the regulations, which were
announced in April 2016 and require all food imports to carry
health certificates, even if the product is deemed low-risk.
European and U.S. government and trade officials have warned the
rules would hamper billions of dollars of shipments to the
world's No. 2 economy of everything from pasta to coffee and
biscuits.
China asked for the change to be circulated by the WTO in a
Sept. 22 communication to the organization, a document published
on WTO's website showed.
"The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine of China is currently studying the comments from
relevant countries/regions," said the notification.
"According to the comments and application received, we hereby
decide to provide a transitional period of 2 years: from 1
October 2017 to 30 September 2019," added the agency, which
oversees the safety of all imports into China.
AQSIQ did not respond to a fax requesting comment from Reuters.
China has delayed enforcing other tough new trade regulations
this year, including rules on the cross-border retail market and
cyber security, after industry pushback.
(Reporting by Dominique Patton; additional reporting by Tony
Munroe; Editing by Richard Pullin)
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