First meat products imported from Macao

A shipment of smoked chicken sausage from Macao was imported through the port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge on Tuesday, marking the first time that meat products from Macao have entered the Chinese mainland market.

"Customs services such as on-demand inspection are provided during the process of releasing meat products from Macao to ensure the timeliness of customs clearance," said Zhang Jianan, deputy director of the supervision department of port customs.

Before the shipment of the 5.1 metric tons of meat products, food imported from Macao to the mainland mainly consisted of cakes, cookies and preserved fruit.

The General Administration of Customs issued a policy on June 1 covering the inspection and quarantine of meat products entering the mainland from Macao. It allowed imports of meat products whose raw materials are from the mainland.

"Thanks to the new policy, we have successfully obtained the first batch of orders," said Wong Chin Yen, an executive of Macao Yuan Heng Food Products.

The company, one of the major meat producers in Macao, is expecting to ship 60 to 100 tons of meat products to the mainland each month, accounting for 60 percent of the company's overall production, Wong said.

In the first seven months of this year, about 190 tons of food, including cakes, egg rolls and tarts from Macao, were imported through Gongbei Customs in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, a year-on-year increase of 313 percent.

Dong Anqi contributed to this story.