Fresh Garlic (Chinese Normal White & Pure White, Egyptian, Spanish, Argentine, Indian)

Chinese white garlic, Egyptian, Spanish and Argentine bulbs by type, diameter and class, in cartons and nets from cold store

Fresh garlic is bought on type, colour, bulb diameter, class and storage condition, and it clears customs under HS 0703.20. The mainstream bulb is white garlic - traded as Pure White and Normal White in China, Spring Blanco in Spain and Chino Blanco in Argentina - a compact bulb with papery white skin, many small to medium cloves and a long storage life; purple Morado garlic, with fewer and larger cloves, sells to chefs and speciality retail. The UNECE garlic standard (FFV-18), aligned with the Codex standard, sets a minimum bulb diameter of 45 mm for Extra Class and 30 mm for Classes I and II, and within the Class I tolerance no more than 1% by weight may show visible sprouts; European supermarkets buy Class I at 45-70 mm, while discount and ethnic retailers focus on 50-60 mm. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 0703.20 total USD 4.34 billion and about 2.88 million MT, and China declared USD 3.15 billion and 2.35 million MT of it, led by Indonesia (569,000 MT), Vietnam (263,000 MT), Malaysia (232,000 MT) and Bangladesh (172,000 MT). Shandong is a major producing province and Jinxiang is known as China's garlic capital; harvest starts around the end of May or early June, and the large Chinese groups each operate 30,000-50,000 MT of cold storage. Spain harvested about 270,000 MT and exported 142,000 MT in 2024 and holds European supermarket shelves from July to February. Egypt opens in February with green garlic, loads dry garlic from April and ships until October, and sent 9,800 MT to Europe in 2024 and 2,500 MT to the USA in January-September 2025. Argentina supplies Europe from January to May, and India's white varieties are smaller - NHRDF lists Yamuna Safed-3 (G-282) at 4.5-5.5 cm - with 2024 exports of 6,000 MT. Those are declared export values, not offers.

Two import regimes shape where Chinese garlic can go. A US anti-dumping order on fresh garlic from China has applied since 16 November 1994 and was continued on 24 May 2023 after the fifth sunset review, which found dumping margins of up to 376.67% likely if the order were revoked; it covers fresh, chilled, frozen and peeled garlic, excluding seed garlic and mechanically harvested garlic for non-fresh use, and cash deposits are collected at the rates in effect on entry. The EU admits fresh garlic under import licences within a 58,870 MT annual tariff quota - 33,700 MT for China in four quarterly sub-periods, 19,147 MT for Argentina and 6,023 MT for other origins such as Egypt - at 9.6% duty in quota and 9.6% plus EUR 1,200 per MT outside it. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers fresh garlic from packers and exporters in China, Egypt, Spain, Argentina and India to importers, wholesale markets, supermarket packers, peeling plants and processors, against the phytosanitary certificate that EU entry requires under Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, a certificate of origin and an inspection of size, colour, dryness and sprouting at loading where the buyer wants it. EU residues follow Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, and Regulation (EU) 2023/915 caps cadmium in garlic at 0.05 mg/kg. Garlic must be dry and parchment-like at loading; it keeps 6-7 months at 0-1°C and 65-70% relative humidity, and more than nine months in long-term stores at 0 to -2°C, with maleic hydrazide applied before harvest to hold back sprouting. It ships at about -2°C to 1°C in reefers, or in actively ventilated or open-sided containers, not closed standard containers, because the bulbs consume oxygen and can self-heat. White garlic moves in 10 kg cartons and 250 g retail nets. Cargo moves on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, priced per MT for type, diameter and pack. Send the type, colour, bulb diameter, class, pack, quantity, destination and shipment month, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.