Photo: Xinhua

After coronavirus-positive imported cold-chain products were found across China, Chinese Customs held talks with all 109 countries that export cold-chain food to China and would suspend imports from companies in these countries which are suffering from virus infections among its working staff. 

The General Administration of Customs of China also said that they would enhance risk surveillance, China Central Television reported on Saturday. 

The move came after reports of the novel coronavirus being found on packages of cold-chain imported products in at least five places on Friday and Saturday, namely Wuhan in Central China’s Hubei Province, Jinan and Liangshan in East China’s Shandong Province, Quanzhou in East China’s Fujian Province and Lanzhou in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. 

The general administration on Friday also announced to suspend declaration for imported cuttlefish of Indian company M/s.Basuinternational(UnitI) after discovering the novel coronavirus on three packages of a batch of the products. 

Since June, more than 10 provinces and cities including Beijing, Liaoning, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Guangdong, Shaanxi, and Jiangsu, have discovered coronavirus-positive samples taken from imported frozen food or food packaging.

To prevent the imported food from infecting people, China's State Council on Monday required all imported cold-chain food to be thoroughly disinfected before going to the market. Related equipment and warehouses are also required to be fully sterilized, including loading and transporting carriers.

Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that the process of goods transportation in winter is similar to cold-chain delivery, so it is necessary to test every batch of other imported goods for the novel coronavirus. 

Global Times