Q.01

Which goods are prohibited from import or export in China?

China has no single prohibited-goods list. There are 16 numbered catalogues: the Prohibited Import Goods Catalogue (禁止进口货物目录, batches 1 and 6–9) and the Prohibited Export Goods Catalogue (禁止出口货物目录, batches 1–8). On top of these sit standalone bans: all solid waste, a list of used machinery and electrical goods, and certain mercury, CFC and other products. Travellers' baggage and post fall under a separate Customs table. MOFCOM's 2025 official list of China's current import/export measures (published for the Hainan Free Trade Port) sets out the full set (MOFCOM list).

Approach: I searched the MOFCOM/MEE prohibited goods catalogues and the MEE register of Stockholm/Minamata implementation notices. I then read the MOFCOM, MEE, gov.cn and Beijing Commerce Bureau pages for the older batches.

1. Prohibited import and export catalogues (MOFCOM / Customs / MEE)

Current batches (2024). Import batch 9 and export batch 8 came from MOFCOM Announcement 2023 No. 63 and apply from 1 January 2024. Both catalogues list the same four POPs:

  • decaBDE (CAS 1163-19-5) [1]
  • PFOS, its salts and PFOSF [2]
  • short-chain chlorinated paraffins [3]
  • Dechlorane Plus and its syn/anti isomers [4][5]

Two details matter for scope:

  • SCCPs means straight-chain C10–C13 chlorinated hydrocarbons with chlorine content above 48% by weight, at 1% or more by weight in a mixture.
  • The ban does not apply to laboratory-scale research or use as a reference standard. Goods are defined by the commodity name; the HS codes are only a reference for customs declarations [6].

Import batch 8 and export batch 7 (2023 No. 21, in force from 8 June 2023):

  • Both lists: hexachlorobutadiene; pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters; dicofol; PFHxS, its salts and related compounds; polychlorinated naphthalenes; HBCDD.
  • Import only: sibutramine and medicines containing it [7].

Import batch 7 and export batch 6 (2020 No. 73, from 1 January 2021). Each list has the same 75 lines (MEE annex 1, annex 2):

  • Legacy POPs and mixtures containing them: chlordane, mirex, HCB, DDT, pentachlorobenzene, hexabromobiphenyl, chlordecone, α-/β-HCH, tetra- to hepta-BDE, lindane, endosulfan, PCB mixtures, and pesticides containing aldrin, toxaphene, dieldrin or heptachlor.
  • Mercury-added products, with these thresholds:
    • batteries: mercury at or above 0.0001% of battery weight, or 0.0005% for button cells;
    • mercury-containing switches and relays;
    • compact fluorescent lamps of 30 W or less with more than 5 mg mercury per lamp;
    • specified linear fluorescent lamps;
    • high-pressure mercury lamps for general lighting;
    • CCFL and EEFL display lamps above their length-based mercury limits;
    • cosmetics and skin-lightening soaps with mercury above 1 ppm (eye cosmetics using mercury as a preservative with no safe alternative are excluded);
    • mercury pesticides, biocides and disinfectants;
    • non-electronic thermometers, hygrometers, barometers, pressure gauges and blood-pressure meters containing mercury.

Import batch 6 and export batch 3 (2005 No. 116, from 1 January 2006). Both lists cover the same 17 items: blue asbestos, 1,2-dibromoethane, DBCP, aldrin/heptachlor/toxaphene, PCBs, PBBs, DNOC, dieldrin, sodium fluoroacetate, 2,4,5-T, tris(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate, benzidine, fluoroacetamide, cartap, dioxins and furans (MOFCOM).

Import batch 1 (2001 No. 19): tiger bone (degummed or not), rhinoceros horn, opium extract, carbon tetrachloride, and a chlorofluorocarbon under HS 29034300.90 (Beijing Commerce Bureau).

Export-only batches:

  • Batch 1 (2001 No. 19): I could not open the item list. The MOFCOM notice shows its contents only as an image.
  • Batch 2: I could not open the item list. MOFCOM cites it as 2004 No. 40, but the Beijing page cites 2003 No. 27, effective 1 August 2003.
  • Batch 4 (2006 No. 16, from 1 May 2006): silica sand, quartz sand and other natural sands under HS 2505, excluding metal-bearing sands (MOFCOM).
  • Batch 5 (2008 No. 96, from 1 January 2009): forest litter (decayed leaves and roots, bark and similar) and peat (MOFCOM).

2. Standalone bans (from the MOFCOM list)

  • All solid waste, from 1 January 2021: import "in any manner" is prohibited, and so is dumping, storing or disposing of foreign solid waste in China (MEE/MOFCOM/NDRC/GACC Announcement 2020 No. 53) (MEE).
  • Used machinery and electrical products, from 1 January 2019, 72 lines (2018 No. 106). This notice also repealed import batch 2. The list covers:
    • picture-tube glass, compressed-gas containers and gas cooking appliances;
    • boilers, burners, industrial furnaces and incinerators;
    • sound and video recorders, CRT and other monitors, projectors, TVs and CRT tubes;
    • all of Chapter 87 vehicles;
    • used HS 9018 medical instruments and X-ray equipment;
    • certain optical and analytical instruments (gov.cn annex).
  • Other bans named in the MOFCOM list: I did not open the underlying notices for these.
    • household appliances that use CFCs as refrigerant or blowing agent;
    • industrial and commercial compressors that use CFC refrigerants;
    • ractopamine and its hydrochloride;
    • prohibited printed and audiovisual matter;
    • charcoal from Somalia (import);
    • incandescent lamps (import and sale) (MOFCOM list).

3. MEE POPs and mercury notices

These notices ban import and export alongside production and use. They overlap with the catalogues but carry their own exemptions:

  • DDT, chlordane, mirex and HCB: banned from 17 May 2009 [8].
  • α-/β-HCH, chlordecone, pentachlorobenzene, PBB and tetra- to hepta-BDE: banned from 26 March 2014 [9].
  • Lindane and endosulfan: banned from 26 March 2019. PFOS stays allowed only for the listed acceptable uses, such as photo imaging, semiconductor photoresists, aviation hydraulic fluids, closed-loop hard metal plating, certain medical devices and fire-fighting foam [10].
  • Mercury-added products: import and export banned from 1 January 2021 (Announcement 2017 No. 38). Vaccines preserved with thiomersal and products for research or calibration are excluded [11].

The 2023 Severely Restricted Toxic Chemicals List is a licensing list, not a ban. Importers and exporters "应" (shall) obtain an MEE release notice (放行通知单) before customs clearance [12].

4. Articles carried by travellers or sent by post (GACC Order No. 43, in force from 1 March 1993)

  • Prohibited on entry:
    • weapons, replica weapons, ammunition and explosives;
    • counterfeit currency and securities;
    • printed matter and media "harmful to China's politics, economy, culture or morality";
    • highly toxic poisons;
    • narcotics and psychotropic drugs;
    • animals and plants carrying dangerous pathogens or pests;
    • food, medicines or other items from epidemic areas or able to spread disease.
  • Prohibited on exit: everything on the entry list, plus:
    • materials containing state secrets;
    • precious and other prohibited cultural relics;
    • endangered and precious animals and plants, including specimens, seeds and propagating material (gov.cn).

Plants and animals that may not be carried or posted into China are listed separately (MARA/GACC Announcement 2021 No. 470). Dual-use items are controlled by licence, not banned (MOFCOM list).

Q.02