NZ salmon clears China border again

A fresh salmon shipment from major New Zealand exporter Sanford has made it across the Chinese border after earlier clearance problems feared to be linked to diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Sanford chief customer officer Andre Gargiulo said in response to a Herald inquiry: “We sent a shipment of fresh salmon to China last week. It cleared customs over the weekend, which is very pleasing.”

Sanford earlier this month revealed it had been having issues getting fresh salmon exports to China cleared through Chinese ports.

Following a perceived deteriorating relationship between New Zealand and its biggest food export customer, there were fears China was retaliating through trade red tape.

Gargiulo said at the time no reason had been given by China for the problems which had affected several shipments of fresh salmon since the end of January.

Seafood New Zealand chief executive Tim Pankhurst said he was not aware of any current issues in the sector with China trade.

However, concerns persist among some exporters. NZ Natural Beef and Lamb, which has Chinese shareholders and buys meat from major New Zealand processors to ship to China, said five refrigerated containers had been held at the Chinese border since early January.

A director, who declined to have his full name reported, said no reason for the delay had been offered by Chinese authorities and his company had never had an access problem before.