China opens cocoa bean imports to all African countries under GACC Announcement No. 147
China's GACC Announcement No. 147 lets African cocoa beans in without a country deal. Start date is December 15 per a secondary report. Conditions inside.
China's customs authority issued Announcement No. 147 on October 15, 2026, opening its market to unroasted African cocoa beans without a country-by-country protocol. The effective date is December 15, 2026 per a secondary report (Sohu) and is not yet confirmed from the official text. Plants reportedly must be registered before shipping.
For: ImportersSmall businesses
The short version
- GACC Announcement No. 147 of 2026, issued October 15, 2026, covers cocoa beans from any African country; no bilateral protocol is needed.
- Effective date: December 15, 2026 per Sohu. Not yet confirmed from the official text, so check before you commit to a shipment.
- Beans must be unroasted, fermented and dried, from plants vetted by your home authority and registered with GACC, with farm traceability.
- Cartons must show origin and enterprise; containers must be sealed. It joins dried chili, cashew, coffee beans and wild aquatic products on the Africa-wide list.
By the numbers
Key dates
- 15Dec China's Africa-wide cocoa bean access starts, per Sohu (confirm)
What changed
On October 15, 2026, China's General Administration of Customs (GACC) issued Announcement No. 147 of 2026. Per Chinese reports, it allows cocoa beans from African countries into China without each country first signing a bilateral protocol. Sohu reports the effective date as December 15, 2026. We have not seen the official text, so treat that date as not yet confirmed.
Conditions reported:
- Product: unroasted, fermented, dried cocoa beans only.
- Plants: vetted by the exporting country's home authority and registered with GACC.
- Traceability: beans traced back to the farm.
- Packing: cartons labelled with origin and enterprise; containers sealed.
Cocoa joins other products already open Africa-wide: dried chili (May 1, 2026), cashew (GACC 2026 No. 80, June 2026), coffee beans (No. 68, effective July 20, 2026) and wild aquatic products (No. 98, July 2026).
What it means for your business
The change removes a political step, not the paperwork. A country no longer has to negotiate a protocol, but your processing plant still has to be vetted at home and registered with GACC before the first container leaves. Plants that start the process now are the ones that can ship in the first weeks after December 15.
Duty should not be the barrier. Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria are all among the 20 non-LDC African countries with zero tariffs into China from May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2028, provided the shipment has a valid certificate of origin. China's import VAT still applies (13% standard, 9% on many farm goods); we have not confirmed the VAT rate for cocoa beans. Nigeria already lists cocoa among its cited winners under the zero-tariff regime.
Who is affected
- Cocoa processors and exporters in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria, and any other African country with cocoa.
- Cooperatives and aggregators who sell to exporters: traceability to the farm is a condition, so your records matter.
- Importers in China buying African cocoa: ask your supplier whether the plant is on the registered list.
What to do now
- Ask your home food-safety or agriculture authority how plants are put forward for GACC registration, and apply early.
- Set up farm-level traceability records now: lots, farms, dates.
- Confirm the official effective date from the GACC text before you sign a December contract.
- Read our export to China guide for origin rules and certificates, and how to get paid and pay in yuan.
- Latest on this section: China-Africa news.
Planning to sell cocoa to China?
Our guide covers zero-tariff rules of origin, certificates and food registration for African exporters.
SuanNews Weekly
The week's fee, tariff and shipping changes, every Friday
One short email: what changed for sellers and importers this week, the dates coming up, and the weekly quiz. You also get our free 9-page first-order-from-China checklist.
Free. No spam, unsubscribe anytime. Privacy
General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change often: check the official sources above or a licensed customs broker before you act. SuanSupply is not affiliated with any government agency or marketplace named here.