China — Whole Grains, Milled Grain Products, and Starch — Rice

China received 7 FDA import refusals in Rice, part of Whole Grains, Milled Grain Products, and Starch between 2023-Q1 and 2025-Q4. Volume peaked at 4 in 2025-Q3, with the trend rising sharply year-on-year. The most-cited issues are pesticide residue, melamine, and unfit for food. Measured against US import value, that runs at 20.5 refusals per $1 billion of imports of this commodity from China over the last 3 years.

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Key figures

If you import rice from China

Lower risk. China ranks 7th of 8 origins shipping rice to the US on refusals per $1 billion of US imports, at 20.5 — above 14% of them.

least riskmost risk

Hazard or paperwork: Of 7 refusals in the last 3 years, 7 were hazard findings and 0 paperwork alone.
Refusals against import volume: On average, 1 refusal per 73,391 tonnes imported into the US over the last 3 years; the lowest refusal rate of 5 origins with enough import volume on record to rate (US import quantities 2022–2024, FAOSTAT).
Where refusals happen: DWCI — West Coast (3); DNEI — Northeast (2); DSEI — Southeast (2).
Riskiest months: June, January, August, by refusals since 2020.
Test for before shipping: pesticide residue (4), melamine (2), unfit for food (1).

FDA does not publish how many entries it examines, so no page can state a true probability of refusal; these are the figures that are published.

Quarterly refusals, last 12 quarters

hazard findings labelling & registration

Show the numbers

Quarter	Refusals	Hazard
2023-Q1	0	0
2023-Q2	0	0
2023-Q3	0	0
2023-Q4	0	0
2024-Q1	2	2
2024-Q2	0	0
2024-Q3	0	0
2024-Q4	0	0
2025-Q1	0	0
2025-Q2	0	0
2025-Q3	4	4
2025-Q4	1	1

Recent refusals

SCS-9376783-3 2025-12-22 RICE PROTEIN Import division DSEI. unfit for food
EKH-1023143-2 2025-09-18 RICE, PROCESSED (PACKAGED) N.E.C. Import division DNEI. pesticide residue
EKH-1019309-5 2025-09-16 RICE, PROCESSED (PACKAGED) N.E.C. Import division DNEI. pesticide residue
799-1642786-9 2025-09-09 RICE PROTEIN Import division DWCI. melamine
799-0041136-6 2025-08-06 RICE PROTEIN Import division DWCI. pesticide residue
NXW-0001310-6 2024-01-09 RICE, PROCESSED (PACKAGED) N.E.C. Import division DWCI. pesticide residue
AEK-4373276-5 2024-01-04 RICE PROTEIN Import division DSEI. melamine
551-3622392-9 2022-08-25 RICE GLUTEN Import division DNBI. melaminecolor additive labelingpesticide residue
U83-2153026-2 2022-03-03 RICE PROTEIN Import division DWCI. pesticide residue
9EH-0071254-9 2021-12-21 RICE, PROCESSED (PACKAGED) N.E.C. Import division DNBI. no net quantitynutrition labelingno food-canning registrationmelamine
9SB-0015439-8 2021-11-23 RICE, PROCESSED (PACKAGED) N.E.C. Import division DNEI. pesticide residue
799-9139468-3 2021-03-12 RICE PROTEIN Import division DSEI. melamine
EPM-0156924-9 2020-08-14 RICE, WILD PROCESSED (PACKAGED) Import division DWCI. pesticide residue
ETS-0014549-7 2020-06-29 RICE, PLAIN (WHITE OR POLISHED) PROCESSED (PACKAGED) Import division DNEI. pesticide residue
224-4850767-7 2020-06-22 RICE, PROCESSED (PACKAGED) N.E.C. Import division DWCI. pesticide residue
224-3101946-6 2020-06-04 RICE, PROCESSED (PACKAGED) N.E.C. Import division DWCI. pesticide residue
KM6-3539058-6 2020-06-03 RICE, PROCESSED (PACKAGED) N.E.C. Import division DNEI. pesticide residue
ETS-0014500-0 2020-05-18 RICE, PLAIN (WHITE OR POLISHED) PROCESSED (PACKAGED) Import division DNEI. pesticide residue
U47-0909881-6 2020-01-21 RICE, PROCESSED (PACKAGED) N.E.C. Import division DNEI. pesticide residue

Data and downloads

Download all 19 entries (CSV) — every refusal behind this page, with its import division, FDA product code, charges and whether it was a hazard finding or paperwork.

The file holds entries up to 2025-12-22. To get new ones for China by email, watch China.

China country report since 2020 — every refusal by year, charge and import division →