Cheong Weng Chon, Secretary for Administration and Justice of the Macao Special Administrative Region, and Lv Weihong, Deputy Customs Commissioner-General of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC), signed a newly revised “Memorandum on inspection, quarantine and veterinarian health requirements of meat products exported to Mainland from Macao” today (30 November). This memorandum further expands the scope of the source of raw materials of food exported to the Mainland, which aids Macao enterprises in developing the Mainland market by producing high-quality and diverse products and promoting appropriate diversified development of Macao industries.

The newly revised “Memorandum on inspection, quarantine and veterinarian health requirements of meat products exported to Mainland from Macao” comes into force on the day it is signed. Enterprises are permitted to use products produced by “countries (regions) approved for import, products approved for import and registered establishments” approved by GACC which have passed the inspection and quarantine as raw materials to produce meat products for export to the Mainland. Permission is granted for meat raw materials that satisfy the requirements with place of origin outside the Mainland to be used in the production of meat products exported to the Mainland from Macao.

After GACC and the Secretary for Administration and Justice of the Macao Special Administrative Region signed the memorandum in May this year, a “chicken sausage” product produced by Macao food production enterprise became the first product that was granted permission and registration number by GACC in May. The first batch of goods were exported to the Mainland by way of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in August, and the food production enterprise became the first meat production enterprise in “Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions” approved for import to the Mainland.

The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) and GACC will maintain close cooperation and continuously optimise and update the relevant policies and measures according to the characteristics of the supply of food and raw materials on the Macao market and the operation of enterprises, so as to aid Macao food enterprises in improving the safety and quality of their products and becoming more competitive.