Recently, the General Administration of Customs published a notice on its official website regarding inspection and quarantine requirements for Zambian macadamia nuts imported to China, allowing macadamia nuts that meet the requirements to be imported.
The allowed imported Zambian macadamia nuts refer to macadamia nuts (Macadamia integrifolia) grown within Zambia, processed through drying, selection, and other processing techniques in Zambia, and intended for human consumption, either in-shell or shelled.
The notice requires that Zambian macadamia nuts imported to China must not carry quarantine pests of concern to China, such as the apple ermine moth, Cryptolestes ferrugineus, Cryptolestes pusillus, and Oryzaephilus surinamensis; must not contain live insects, insect eggs, or soil, and must not be mixed with weed seeds, plant debris, metal foreign objects, or gravel.
On March 31, China and Zambia signed an agreement for importing macadamia nuts. This agreement was an important outcome of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum held in Beijing last September, when China announced a commitment to provide zero-tariff treatment for 100% of tariff items from all least developed countries with diplomatic relations, including Zambia.
Although Zambia's macadamia nut industry is small in scale, it is developing rapidly, with most production coming from large commercial farms. Zambian macadamia nuts are primarily exported, with export volumes near zero 10 years ago, reaching over 1,900 tons of in-shell nuts in 2023, with that year's total production around 2,000 tons.
Based on export growth trends and Zambia's macadamia seedling imports, production is expected to grow at an even higher rate in the next five years. Production may reach 6,000-7,000 tons by 2028 and approach 10,000 tons by 2030.