China has upgraded its ‘Green Channel’ policy to fast-track the clearance of African agricultural products, particularly fresh produce. This is part of a set of measures aimed at expanding agricultural trade and improving market access for African exporters.

Shuai Guipeng, deputy director of the FOCAC Office at China’s foreign affairs ministry, disclosed this on Monday during a presentation on China-Africa Relations, the Implementation of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit outcomes, and the Zero-Tariff Policy.

Mr Guipeng said the upgraded mechanism addresses challenges associated with the long distance between China and Africa, including transportation, preservation and maintaining the freshness of agricultural and food products.

He explained that the General Administration of Customs of China had enhanced the Green Channel policy to expedite and streamline customs clearance for African agricultural exports.

He was responding to concerns raised by African journalists about delays in clearing fresh produce, citing the example of stone fruits exported from South Africa, where clearance bottlenecks could affect product quality due to the commodities’ perishable nature.

He said China was working to simplify procedures by moving away from negotiating market access for agricultural products on an individual basis and adopting a broader package approach.

”In the past, we negotiated with African countries about market access for those fresh products one by one, separately for different kinds of products. Now we are considering package negotiations on agricultural and food products,” he said.

He added that products such as citrus, oranges and blueberries could be considered together under the new approach to make market access discussions and clearance procedures more efficient.

The official further said that China would continue discussions with African countries individually to determine which agricultural products could benefit from smoother access to the Chinese market.

He also disclosed that China was engaging its Ministry of Agriculture on a zero-tariff policy for African agricultural and food products, alongside support for infrastructure development and expansion of industries.

According to him, increasing production capacity and adding value to African agricultural products will help more goods from the continent enter the Chinese market.

(NAN)