STANDARDSMAP.ORG
Green Food
Head Office:
No.59,Xueyuannanlu,
Haidian District,
Beijing 100081
China
0086-10-62122266-4107
cgfdc@agri.gov.cn
www.greenfood.moa.gov.cn
FACTS & FIGURES
FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES
• More than 7000 Green Food certified
enterprises
• More than 16000 products carry Green Label
• Domestic sales of Green food labeled products
amounted to 313.4 billion RMB, with $2.3 billion
exports in 2011
Disclaimer: the graph was generated using the proportion of the
sustainability initiative’s requirements matching the criteria used in
Standards Map Database in consultation with standard organizations.
WHAT IS GREEN FOOD?
WHO CAN JOIN?
Green Food is a government food certification project, initiated
and coordinated by Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)
in 1990, with the aim of enhancing food quality and safety,
improving agricultural environmental sustainability. It provides a
middle way from chemical farming towards organic agriculture,
through a controlled and reduced use of pesticides during
food production.Green food is governed by China Green Food
Development Centre (CGFDC) and managed by 42 provincial
Green food offices nationwide.
The initiative is open to all stakeholders.
WHAT PRODUCTS ARE COVERED?
The Green Food standards cover a wide range of products
including crop production, livestock, aquaculture, bererages
among others.
For detailed information about this and other standards check out: Standardsmap.org
WHAT ARE THE KEY FEATURES?
Green Food standard system consists of a set of voluntary
standards, including environmental quality standards,
packaging and labeling standards, inputs control standards,
as well as product quality standards covering a wide range
of products (crop, livestock, aquaculture, beverages etc).
The Green food certification is initially reviewed and carried
out by local offices and finally approved by China Green Food
Development Centre (CGFDC). Certified products are allowed
to bear Green food logo. CGFDC owns the Green Food logo,
develops and maintains the Green Food standard, coordinates
inspections and monitoring and makes certification decisions.
Green food includes annual audits and additional unannounced
inspections.
AUDIT INFORMATION
1
st, 2nd, 3rd party certification:
Second-party audit is required.
F
requency of audits:
Annual audits, Surprise audits, Other
R
eview process:
Provincial Green Food offices shall arrange to implement
the annual inspection of label users use of the green
food label within their respective jurisdiction. Where the
inspection is passed, the annual inspection pass seal will
be affixed to label use certificates.The China Green Food
Development Centre and Provincial Green Food offices
shall establish green food risk prevention and emergency
response systems, and arrange to carry out track inspection
of green food and the use of the label.
V
alidity of audit certificate:
Green food label use certificates are valid for three years.
The label users shall pass the annual inspection to keep the
certificates valid.
WHAT KIND OF CRITERIA ARE USED FOR
THE ASSESSMENT?
P
ass and fail:
The applicants must comply with the critical requirements
set in the relevant Green food standards in order to be
certified, and such compliance will be assessed as Pass or
Fail.
W
hat happens if non-conformity is found?
Where label users fail to pass annual inspection, corrective
actions must be implemented within 30 days and be verified
by local green food office. The use of green food label shall
be suspended during grace period.
D
oes the initiative offer incentives for continuous
improvement?
The China Green Food Development Centre and Provincial
Green Food offices establish green food risk prevention
and emergency response systems, and arrange to carry
out track inspection of green food and the use of the label.
Provincial Green Food offices arrange to implement the
annual inspection of label users use of the green food label
within their respective jurisdiction. Where the inspection is
passed, the annual inspection pass seal will be affixed to
label use certificates.
ARE THE PRODUCTS TRACEABLE ALONG
THE SUPPLY CHAIN?
Full records shall be kept throught production, processing
and transportation.
DOES THE INITIATIVE HARMONISE WITH
OTHER STANDARDS?
No information.
C
apacity building and outreach:
No
USE OF LOGO ON THE FINAL PRODUCT?
yes:
WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT IS PROVIDED?
The China Green Food Certification scheme document,
participant application form and other China Green Food
Certification reference material in Chinese are available free
of charge from the Green Food Development Centre website.
(http://www.greenfood.org.cn/sites/MainSite/List_2_6769.
html).
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
M
embership fee:
Not applicable.
C
ertification costs:
No information available.
GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE
Asia: China, Europe: Finland, North America: Canada, Australia
& Oceania: Australia
China Green Food Scheme is applicable to the following countries
Source: http://ffip.cnca.cn/ffip/publicquery/certSearch.jsp
STEPS TO JOIN THE INITIATIVE:
1. File an application with the Provincial Green Food offices,
5. Provincial Green Food offices issue an opinion on the initial
and submit the required documents.
review. Where the initial review is passed, the initial review
opinion and related materials will be submitted to the China
Green Food Development Centre.
2. The Provincial Green Food offices review the application
file and decide whether the applicant is eligible for Green food
certification.
3. An on-site inspection is conducted.
4. Testing institutions arrange on-site sampling and submit
to Provincial Green Food offices and the Applicants, product
quality inspection reports and environment of origin monitoring
reports.
6. The China Green Food Development Center organizes
experts for application review. Where necessary, an on-site
verification may be carried out.
7. The Certification Committee makes certification decision
based on the experts’ review.
8. A contract for the use of the green food label will be entered
into with qualified applicants and a green food label use
certificate will be issued.
OVERVIEW OF REQUIREMENTS*:
ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS
EXPLANATION:
C
ritical:
The requirements set in Green Food standards need to
be met with immediate full compliance to be certified,
therefore they are presented in Standards Map as ‘Critical
requirement’.
R
ecommendation:
Requirements are presented in Standards Map as
‘Recommendation’, based on the following policy applied
for compliance ‘It is recommended to...’
SOCIAL REQUIREMENTS
ECONOMIC REQUIREMENTS
* based on criteria used in Standards Map. Access Standards
Map’s Analysis Module to review specific details on upto 250
sustainability requirement for each of the standards.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Standards Map is a web-based interactive tool that centralises, organises and disseminates information on over 100 voluntary
sustainability standards. Standards Map is part of the International Trade Centre’s web-based Market Analysis Tools.
More detailed information on the specific requirements of the sustainability initiative can be reviewed: standardsmap.org.