Exporters of primary commodities face difficulties shipping to China following stricter requirements on imported food items. The Chinese General Administration of Customs issued a compelling regulation at the beginning of the year for exporters to operate warehouses that can accommodate annual shipments and machinery to clean the exported items. Warehouses need to be made of concrete and cover more than 500sqm to be eligible.

The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has been designated to register coffee, oilseeds, and cereals exporters to ensure compliance with the regulation. It is expected to send applications and supporting documents to the Chinese General Administration of Customs for approval. Exporters with approval will ship their goods to ports in China for five years.

This is the first time the Chinese government has imposed requirements on exports from Ethiopia, according to Girma Bekele, director of plant health and product quality control at the Ministry.

“The requirement is intended to guarantee food safety and quality control," he told Fortune.

“We've already dispatched officers outside of Addis Abeba to evaluate warehouses and processing machines."

Officials of the Ministry are busy monitoring exporters through document reviews and on-site inspections. Around 183 exporters have already been approved by the Chinese government, and another 200 are in the process.

Yhaenu Plc has been exporting oilseeds, pulses, niger seeds and green mung beans to China for the last 17 years. Incorporated in 2003 with one million Birr capital, it is one of the companies interested to register with the Ministry for eligibility. Its General Manager, Yared Fayessa, accepts the new terms as having advantages to exporters like Yhaenu, which has met the requirements, operating three warehouses with a storage capacity of 150,000qtl and six cleaning machines.

“The requirement may encourage the exports of quality products," said Yared. "However, it'll push many exporters from the business."

Exporters unable to own such facilities rent warehouses and cleaning machines.

The requirements might also further discourage a weakened oilseed industry, which has witnessed export volumes decline by eight percent annually over the past decade. Still, oilseeds are among the top foreign currency earners, accounting for nearly 12pc of the 3.6 billion dollars in export revenues last year. Industry players attribute prices volatility in the global market, currency fluctuations and production decline to the deteriorating export trade performance in recent years.

“Many have already ceased to export sesame,” said Yared.

China was the biggest buyer of sesame from Ethiopia seven years ago, accounting for 70pc of total sales. However, this is changing as it diversifies its imports and turns to other sources in Africa. It is the fourth largest buyer from Ethiopia this year.