China
Primary receiving authority: General Administration of Customs China (GACC) and China's animal/plant quarantine authorities. China's framework centers on facility registration - but that registration is tied to specific products, not to CeresGrid customers as a category. A facility approved to ship alfalfa bales is not automatically cleared for pellets, cubes, or Timothy hay.
This is a starting point, not a compliance sign-off
Requirements below are organized by how solidly they're sourced today. Before any shipment, confirm current, product-specific requirements through USDA APHIS's Phytosanitary Export Database (PExD) and an Authorized Certification Official, plus the destination authority directly. Treat nothing on this page as a substitute for that check.
The categories below reflect commercial and transport basics that apply broadly, plus documentation specific to Japan at three levels of confidence: baseline, conditional on your specific product and protocol, and items that still need sourcing before they're treated as requirements.
Baseline
Standard for most export shipments regardless of destination.
Commercial invoice
Prepared by the exporter for customs valuation.
Packing list
Itemizes the shipment for customs and carrier handling.
Bill of lading
Issued by the carrier as the transport contract and title document.
Conditional
Correct in concept, but scope depends on the specific product being shipped.
Facility registration
Confirm the registration covers the exact product form in the shipment (bales vs. pellets vs. cubes vs. species) - approval does not carry across product types automatically.
Verify before shipment
Referenced in early planning materials, but needs support from the applicable protocol or import permit before being treated as a standing requirement.
GMO test result
Confirm against the applicable import protocol for the specific product and origin.
Residue certificate
Confirm against the applicable import protocol for the specific product and origin.
Heavy-metal certificate
Confirm against the applicable import protocol for the specific product and origin.
Bilingual documentation
Confirm current formatting expectations with the importer or customs broker.
Referenced in this overview
USDA China
USDA China feed export overview
USDA APHIS PExD
USDA APHIS PExD (Phytosanitary Export Database)
