Export-Restricted Chinese Herbs: What Buyers Should Verify Before Ordering

Not every Chinese herb can be exported freely. Some are quota-managed, some fall under protected-species controls, while most are unrestricted.

Export status should be confirmed at the specification stage, before a formula is finalized or a quotation is accepted. This guide explains the three categories of control and which official sources to check.

Category 1: Export Quota and License Goods

Certain herbal materials are managed under China’s annual export quota system. For these goods, the exporter must hold the required current-year quota and export license before shipment.

Two herbal materials are on the current quota list:

Fresh or dried licorice root is declared under HS code 1211903600, and its quota is allocated only by bidding. Under MOFCOM Announcement 2025 No. 78, companies may bid for fresh or dried licorice only if they exported the product in 2025, or exported Chinese medicinal materials and decoction pieces in every year from 2023 to 2025 with average annual exports of at least USD 500,000, or supplied at least 50,000 kg of the product for export per year over 2023–2025. After each round, MOFCOM publishes the winning companies and their quantities; the 2026 second-round list, issued on 16 June 2026, names 75 companies for fresh or dried licorice. A general export license or trading history is therefore not sufficient. If a supplier quotes licorice, the correct follow-up question is not “can you export it” but “do you hold a licorice export quota award for this year, and can you show the export license before shipment” — and whether the exporter of record appears on MOFCOM’s published award list.

Category 2: Protected Species

A second layer of control comes from species protection rules, separate from trade quotas.

China’s List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (State Forestry and Grassland Administration & Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Announcement 2021 No. 15) assigns listed plants to Class I or Class II protection. Internationally, the CITES appendices control cross-border trade in listed species.

One example directly relevant to herbal buyers: all wild species of the genus Fritillaria — the botanical sources of Chuan Bei Mu (Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus) — are listed as Class II protected wild plants under the 2021 list.

Category 3: Ordinary Herbs (the Majority)

Most commonly traded Chinese herbs, such as Astragalus root, Angelica sinensis and goji berry, are not subject to these quota or protected-species controls.

For these, the export process is standard:

• The Chinese exporter handles export declaration to China Customs and the export-side documents.
• The importer confirms destination-market requirements: import registration, phytosanitary or health certificates where required, labeling rules.
• Which certificates apply depends on the specific product, its processing state, its declared use (food vs. medicinal) and the destination country — not on the herb’s Chinese name alone.

If your sourcing list stays within this category, export restriction is not a factor in your project. The remaining questions are quality documentation and destination-market compliance, covered in our quality control process.

How to Verify a Herb’s Export Status

Information needed before checking

• Latin name
• Plant part and processing state
• Wild or cultivated source
• HS code
• Destination country
• Intended use (food or medicinal)

A Chinese trade name alone is not enough. Different species sold under one name can carry different statuses.

Official sources to check

Buyers do not need to interpret every Chinese regulation themselves, but the supplier should confirm export status in writing before quoting restricted items.

How Aile Herb Screens Restricted Items

1. We screen incoming ingredient lists against the quota list and protected-species lists by Latin name before pricing, and flag restricted items in the first reply. In a recent 69-item bulk quotation, two Fritillaria grades were excluded rather than priced for this reason.
2. Where a restricted item is central to a buyer’s formula, we discuss unrestricted alternatives from our Gansu supply base, or the buyer sources that item through an appropriately licensed channel.
3. Every quoted item follows the standard documentation set: batch COA, traceability to raw material batch, and the agreed testing scope.

This costs us some line items on large sourcing lists. It also means every quoted item can actually ship.

FAQ

Is licorice (Gan Cao) banned from export? No. It is quota-managed. Export requires a current-year quota award and export license.

How can I check whether a Chinese supplier holds a licorice export quota? Ask for the Chinese legal name of the exporter of record and compare it with the award lists MOFCOM publishes after each bidding round. For 2026, the second-round list issued on 16 June 2026 names 75 companies for fresh or dried licorice (HS 1211903600). A supplier that is not on the list must ship through a company that is.

Can cultivated Chuan Bei Mu be exported? Wild Fritillaria species are Class II protected plants. Whether cultivated material can be exported depends on species, source documentation and permit requirements, confirmed case by case. Ask for the export-status confirmation in writing.

How do I know if a herb on my list is restricted? Send the Latin name, plant part, source (wild or cultivated) and destination country. A competent exporter can screen the item and reply in writing.

Does “food-medicine homology” mean freely exportable? No — it concerns permitted use in food within China, and is a separate question from export restriction. In practice most catalog herbs are unrestricted, but each item should be screened individually.

To have your ingredient list screened for quota and protected-species restrictions, send it through our Chinese herbal slices page with the destination market.