The threshold for international certification of aquatic feed has been raised, and ISO, BRCGS, and FDA triple certification have become essential for export

With the continuous increase in the export scale of domestic aquarium feed and the continuous tightening of overseas market access standards, ISO9001 quality management system, BRCGS global food safety standards, and the triple system certification of US FDA food grade raw materials have become the hard threshold for domestic manufacturers to connect with overseas orders in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia. Products that have not obtained the full set of certifications are basically unable to enter overseas supermarkets and professional aquarium chain channels, forcing domestic manufacturing enterprises to comprehensively upgrade their production workshops, quality control processes, and raw material management systems. The European and American markets implement safety control standards similar to human food for ornamental fish food and food grade turtle food. FDA certification focuses on verifying the traceability of animal derived raw materials, hygiene zoning in production workshops, microbial control, and packaging contact material safety. It requires dry and wet separation in production areas, separate storage of raw materials and finished products, 24-hour operation of foreign object detection equipment, and retention of complete production and testing records for overseas institutions to trace and verify at any time; The BRCGS system has established strict standards for food grade processing environments, setting more than 40 mandatory assessment indicators for workshop ventilation, disinfection processes, personnel operation norms, pest control, and sample retention management.
Previously, a large number of small and medium-sized manufacturers only held basic production qualifications without the support of international certification systems. Export orders could only rely on foreign trade intermediaries for OEM, and their profit margins were severely compressed. However, factories that completed triple certification had overseas premiums of over 30% for their products, and could directly establish long-term OEM cooperation with overseas brand merchants. To meet certification requirements, leading domestic manufacturing enterprises generally rebuild standardized dust-free production workshops, dividing them into independent raw material pretreatment areas, puffing production areas, finished product packaging areas, and sample testing laboratories, equipped with a complete set of physical, chemical, and microbiological testing instruments, forming professional quality control teams, and establishing a quality control system covering the entire production chain. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with the General Administration of Customs, has launched a special assistance policy for exporting aquatic animal feed, organized third-party certification agencies to provide free training, simplified the certification declaration process, and provided export tax rebate benefits for enterprises that have obtained a full set of international certifications. Industry data shows that by 2025, there will be less than 40 domestic aquatic feed manufacturers holding three international certifications. With the continuous expansion of overseas market demand, a large number of enterprises will invest in certification and transformation in the next two years. The overall production safety standards of the industry will be fully aligned with international standards, and the global market competitiveness of domestic aquatic feed will continue to strengthen.