Regional exporters were only told on Christmas Eve of the changes, which were introduced on January 1.

They risk having their product, worth thousands of dollars, seized on arrival in mainland China if they don't obtain new health certificates.

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) is working hard to strike a three-month buffer period to give exporters time to comply with the new rules.

It is understood countries like Canada have already struck such a deal.

Portland Seafoods owner Ellie Lane told The Standard her company looked set to provide the Chinese with one-and-a-half tonnes of giant crabs for their New Year celebrations on January 26.

But she said if an Australian export agreement wasn't reached in coming weeks she would be forced to almost give away the king-size catch.

"They would be pretty well worthless. It would be near impossible to sell them at a profit," Ms Lane said.

"It has put us in a difficult situation."

Ms Lane has exported live seafood to the Asian market for the past 20 years. Her company does not use drugs in seafood processing.

Under the new rules all live seafood must be caught wild or from official registered breeding farms, free of sedative drugs and parasitic diseases and fit for human consumption.

Warrnambool-bas ed exporter Neil Trewartha, of Ausfish, said the changes did not effect him as he exported to Hong Kong where the new rules don't apply.

But he said the tightened regulations were still a concern.

"It has the potential to be quite serious," Mr Trewartha said.

"You can't argue with the Chinese wanting to improve their standards but the timing is pretty tight. We don't know how long this (the AQIS-Chinese negotiations) will go on for."

Mr Trewartha exports on average one shipment of crayfish worth about $45,000 to Hong Kong each week.

He said if Hong Kong toughened its regulations it would be disastrous for his business.

South West Coast MP Denis Napthine urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to intervene.

"Mr Rudd speaks Mandarin, it's time for him to pick up the phone and fix this problem," Dr Napthine said.

"The Chinese are at liberty to improve their standards but the Australian Government has been asleep at the wheel in actively looking after the interests of Australian live seafood exporters."