Chinese port suspends import of frozen food from Vietnam to grapple with Covid

By Duc Minh June 13, 2021 | 07:52 pm PT

Zhanjiang Port in Guangdong Province, China, January 2020. Photo by Shutterstock/Weiming Xie.

A port in China’s Guangdong Province has temporarily suspended frozen food imports from Vietnam and 10 other Asian countries since Covid-19 prevention measures have hit its loading capacity.

Zhanjiang Port operator Zhanjiang Port Zhanjiang Port Group Co., Ltd, decided to suspend imports of frozen food, mostly seafood, from Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Mongolia from June 20 to July 15.

Vietnam’s National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD) said: "Suspension of imports of frozen products from 11 Asian countries is a decision by the port operator. No such decision has been made by Guangdong Province or the Chinese government."

The port’s cargo loading capacity has been affected by pandemic prevention measures for staff and workers, it said. Due to a surge in Covid in Guangdong since late May, many cities in the province, including Zhanjiang, have strengthened Covid-19 prevention measures at ports, it said.

It urged seafood processing and exporting firms to keep in touch with importers there to keep abreast of the situation.

It also called on the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers to notify its members of the port’s frozen food ban.

Vietnam exported US$2.49 billion worth of seafood in the first four months of 2021, up 11.6 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistic Office.

Exports to China were worth $253 million.