BEIJING: Customs officials have either destroyed or turned back thousands of foreign wines so far in 2016, mainly because of poor labeling, new figures show. Almost half of the wines rejected by Chinese customs were due to poor labeling, said officials. It suggests that border police have switched their focus from the contents of the wine to the packaging.
The exact number of wines rejected in the first six months of 2016 was not released, but customs rejected 82 batches (151 ton) of imported wines from 11 countries.
Thirty five batches were due to failure to comply with Chinese customs’ labelling regulations, according to China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ).
The number has increased significantly compared to the first half of 2015, when 49 batches were rejected. The top three reasons for rejection are poor labelling, poor packaging (9 batches) and excessive iron (8 batches).
Imported wines need to carry a Chinese back label when entering China, according to AQSIQ.
