“These ‘food-access passports’ are the brand-new protocols we have just signed with partner countries under the cooperation mechanism—giving 15 more agri-food products the green light to enter China,” Vice Minister of Customs Zhao Zenglian told reporters at the 2025 Belt and Road Customs Food-Safety Partnership Conference.

As Belt and Road cooperation shifts from “broad brush-strokes” to “fine detailing”, signature projects and “small but beautiful” initiatives are being rolled out in tandem.

On food safety alone, China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) inked 14 bilateral agreements, cleared the 15 new products, launched the online “Silk Road Food Safety” portal and, immediately before the conference, graduated the second cohort of trainees from its Belt and Road food-safety capacity-building course in Shanghai—concrete deliverables that inject fresh momentum into the Initiative.

At the heart of these efforts sits the Belt and Road Customs Food-Safety Cooperation Mechanism. Its lifeblood is the trade-facilitation package it offers participants.

“From farm to fork, food now crosses mountains and oceans; only global governance can deliver ‘safe everywhere once safe somewhere’,” Zhao said. “The Belt and Road is a route for culinary exchange and for sharing regional specialties—safety is its bedrock.”

The mechanism was created to deepen collaboration on agri-food safety, raise governance capacity and expand cross-border trade in safe, convenient ways.

To keep the facilitation toolbox stocked, China is rolling out four pilot measures:

Faster market access – food-access applications from mechanism partners are placed on an expedited, risk-based track.

Streamlined factory registration – manufacturers are registered in lists or batches, leveraging prior audits and mutual recognition.

Capacity building – GAC has already run two food-safety officials’ courses and will continue to use its own training resources to offer more.

Dedicated product desks – dairy, aquatic products, fruit and other priority lines are assigned specialist teams for rapid problem-solving.

“We will keep enriching these win-win measures so delicacies can ‘come in’ and ‘go out’ smoothly, and consumers can eat with peace of mind—that is our founding mission,” Zhao added.

With China now drafting its 15th Five-Year Plan, GAC will use the conference outcome to map the next phase of Belt and Road food-safety cooperation, turning “blueprints” into “landscapes” that benefit every partner. More countries and regions are invited to join the mechanism and make food trade safer and simpler for all.