Chinese authorities have suspended imports of products from three Asian seafood companies, citing failure to meet COVID-19 regulations at their processing plants.

Dai Han Fisheries from South Korea, Indonesia's PT. Rembang Sportindo Mandiri and Vietnam's An Thinh Trung Seafood Seafood Joint Stock Company had a ban on entry to China slapped on their consignments from Aug. 15.

Video inspections of the three companies plants showed they did not meet the requirements of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a release from China's General Administration of Customs said.

The companies also failed to meet guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19 in food enterprises and related food safety requirements, in accordance with relevant Chinese laws and regulations, the release said.

Strict regulations on the entry of products entering China since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020 have become a headache for seafood exporters around the world, with shrimp imports into China from India and Ecuador having been impacted to varying degrees since then.

Ecuador's shrimp producers have insisted any discoveries of COVID-19 must have come from contact with external sources as goods pass through a long chain of custody on their way to their final destination.

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