Recently the General Administration for Customs for the Government of China imposed bans on two U.S. poultry plants in addition to numerous hog and beef plants and suppliers in Latin America. In September, China suspended imports from seafood suppliers in Brazil, Indonesia and Russia again without acceptable levels of transparency regarding assays.
The justification was alleged contamination of outer packaging and products with COVID-19 virus. Release of scientific data justifying this action has not been forthcoming. It is questioned whether China is using COVID-19 to intimidate exporters or is in fact engaged in a program of self-deception relating to COVID-19 or reflects a cover-up.
The situation attained a new dimension in late September with the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau calling on importers to discriminate against exporting nations with "severe novel- coronavirus outbreaks". The Bureau has urged monitoring of prevalence rates in exporting nations and has advised government-affiliated importers to avoid sourcing product from areas that are severely affected with COVID-19.