The majority of pet food brands from Italy and other European countries are not registered in category 3108 in China or are already registered by other companies which can cause a major barrier for the product to enter China. According to Chinese law, only trademarks registered in China are protected by law.
Ring One Technology Ltd., Beijing, China
According to the General Administration of Customs for the People’s Republic of China, there are 16 manufacturing facilities from Italy registered to export pet food to China. As of last year (2020) China Customs (GACC) approved 10 new manufacturing facilities from Italy which led to an increase in the number of pet food manufacturers listed from Italy to 16 in total. Other 6 manufacturing units were listed in the year 2017. The recently listed pet food companies include Prosol SPA, Diusa Pet Srl, Adragna Alimenti Zootecnici Srl, Befood Srl, Mister SPA, NP Industries SPA, Netsle Italiana SPA, Sany pet SPA, ACEL Pharma and Landini Giuntini SPA. The approved pet food manufacturers need to apply for a product registration license issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA)of the People’s Republic of China to complete the registration procedure. Without the product license, it won’t be possible to export their pet food to China regardless of the GACC approval.
CHINA MARKET EXPECTED TO GROW ANNUALLY BY 1.82%
Several manufacturing units have already obtained the product license to export to China. In October 2021, Acel Pharma Srl was issued the product license by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) for some of their products which already completed the product registration procedure including, Renal P Powder, Renal P paste, and Florentero Act Paste. The product registration takes 4 to 6 months after submitting all the required material to MARA and sorting out all the document preparation according to China’s requirements. The number of other pet food brands and manufacturing facilities from Italia is expected to increase in the coming days and enter the China market, which amounts to US$1,282m in 2021. The China market is also expected to grow annually by 1.82% (CAGR 2021-2026) to reach US$1402m in 2021 according to Statista’s China pet food market report for Oct. 2021.
France and Germany are other countries from Europe that have recently completed the registration process to enter China market. In July this year, GACC approved one manufacturing facility from France, La Normandise, and the number of approved pet food manufacturers from France reached 6 in total. More brands from Germany are ready to enter China market, several manufacturing facilities from Germany have already completed the product registration process to export to China. Bosch Tiernahrung, a pet food manufacturing company from Germany already completed products license earlier this year (2021) for their 4 brands including Sanabelle, Chicopee Classic Nature Lines, Dr. Clauder’s, and Bosch High Premium Concept.
Other countries from Europe approved by GACC to export pet food to China include Spain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Austria.
BARRIERS TO ITALIAN BRANDS AND PET PRODUCTS ENTERING CHINA
The majority of pet food brands from Italy and other European countries are not registered in category 3108 in China or are already registered by other companies which can cause a major barrier for the product to enter China. According to Chinese law, only trademarks registered in China are protected by law. Thus, if the trademark is registered by others, direct sale products in China can cause trademark infringement and cause legal risks which can take one or two years or longer from trademark disputes. And this can result in companies to put more energy and time to that.
