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China news tagged with: food exports (13)

• China Sees Huge Rise in Garlic Prices

  

  A look at the meteoric rise in the price of garlic — the best-performing asset class of this year — from Robert Cookson and Patti Waldmeir for the Washington Post Foreign Service:

  Wholesale garlic prices in Beijing are now 15 times as high as in March, and still rising.

  Jerry Lou, a Morgan Stanley China strategist who has researched the opaque market here, said speculators — fueled by the abundant liquidity sloshing around China — have moved into the small market and strategically driven up prices.

  “You need a warehouse, a lot of cash and a few trucks. That’s how it works,” Lou said, describing garlic speculators’ tools of the trade. “Basically, what you do is try to arrest as much supply as possible, then you bid up the price. Moving garlic from one warehouse to the other, you make millions of dollars.”

  Lou said garlic wholesalers told him that gangs that had amassed cash and credit from dealing property and stocks in other parts of the country had chosen the garlic market as their latest ruse.

  More, from Leo Lewis, at Times Online:

  The astonishing surge in the price of garlic makes it the best-performing Chinese asset class of the year. Two factors are driving the gains. Garlic, Mr Lou writes, has become a barometer for China’s wider issues of bubble formation. The massive flood of liquidity — created by the huge government stimulus package and unprecedented bank lending — has made a diverse range of assets the target of speculation. Garlic has joined property and stocks as a favourite market for cashed-up punters.

  Helping things along has been a technical squeeze on the market. Chinese garlic is a big export commodity — 60 per cent of the garlic used in American restaurants, for example, is Chinese in origin. But last year China reduced its total garlic planting areas by 50 per cent, diminishing the overall supply and giving speculators a reason to assume future shortages.

  The H1N1 virus, and the suggestion that garlic may offer some immunity from it, has also had an effect. Some believe that the suggestion may have been promoted by traders in Jinxiang.

  » Read more
  • November 25, 2009 8:58 PM

• China to Draw up Blacklist of Dangerous Ingredients

  

  As the EU bans soy products made in China following another melamine scare, Chinese authorities have announced the creation of a dangerous food additives blacklist. From Reuters:

  China is to publish a blacklist of food additives which make products taste better or appear nutritious but are damaging to health, state media said, as it struggles to restore faith in the “made in China” brand.

  [...] The additives blacklist would be constantly updated, Health Ministry official Su Zhi told Chinese television.

  The government would also aim to set specific rules for different sectors of the food industry, starting with dairy products, and unify current regulations which vary across the country, the official China Daily said.

  » Read more
  • December 4, 2008 10:47 PM

• US Says Will Work with China on Product Safety

  

  In response to a spate of food safety controversies in recent years, the U.S. FDA will set up its first overseas office in China. From AP:

  U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, speaking on the eve of opening of an FDA office in Beijing, said a new strategy was needed because the United States imported $2 trillion worth of goods a year, equal to four times the size of the Brazilian economy.

  “When one sees the enormity of that, it becomes clear you cannot inspect everything … we have to change our strategy from one of simple inspections at the border. We have to build quality into every product in every step of the process,” he told a news conference.

  The FDA office will be the first outside the United States and will be followed by two more in China this month and another one in India next month.

  Read also Xinhua’s report on this news, which says that China is also planning on setting up its own counterpart office in the U.S., though no date or location has been set yet.

  » Read more
  • November 18, 2008 1:52 PM

• US Issues Alert Over Chinese Melamine

  

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an alert after discovering melamine and cyanuric acid in Chinese food imports:

  The new alert from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) covers a range of Chinese products including drinks, sweets, baby and pet food.

  It also allows US inspectors to seize any Chinese products suspected of being contaminated.

  Any food items from China that contain milk will be stopped at the border and tested by U.S. authorities:

  Companies in the United States have recalled several products, including nondairy creamer and a type of candy, which are primarily sold in Asian markets, because of melamine concerns but to date the contamination here was not thought to be widespread.

  “We’re taking this action because it’s the right thing to do for the public health,” said Steven Solomon, an FDA deputy associate commissioner…

  The FDA routinely blocks imports of individual food products, but it is rare for the agency to block an entire category of foods from a particular country. Last year, the FDA blocked five types of farm-raised seafood as well as vegetable protein from China because of repeated instances of contamination from unapproved animal drugs and food additives.

  The Chinese government is still trying to repair domestic and international faith in Chinese food products.  Earlier this month, two milk inspectors for Mengniu, one of China’s largest dairy companies, were badly beaten during a safety check at one of their supplier’s:

  “According to an initial analysis, this incident was triggered by (Li’s) [the inspector's] decision that this truck’s milk was not in compliance,” it quoted an unnamed Mengniu official as saying.

  Li and another inspector, Zhang Liwei, were set on by a group of about five club-wielding men as they left work later that day.  Li was badly beaten, suffering numerous injuries over his body, including fractured vertebra, and was in a coma for “a long time”, [the China Youth Daily] said, without specifying Li’s current condition.  Neither victim could identify the milk supplier nor the attackers as both inspectors had only recently been rotated to Tangshan.

  Police were investigating, the paper said.

  An op-ed in the International Herald Tribune looks at China’s melamine crisis from the perspective of American agriculture:

  For all the outrage about Chinese melamine, what American consumers and government agencies have studiously failed to scrutinize is the place of melamine in America’s own food system. In casting stones, we’ve forgotten that our house has its own exposed glass.

  To be sure, in China some food manufacturers deliberately added melamine to products to increase profits. Makers of baby formula, for example, watered down their product, lowering the amount of protein and nutrients, then added melamine, which is cheap and fools tests measuring protein levels.

  But melamine is also integral to the material life of any industrialized society. It’s a common ingredient in cleaning products, waterproof plywood, plastic compounds, cement, ink and fire-retardant paint. Chemical plants throughout the United States produce millions of pounds of melamine a year.

  See past CDT posts for more information on the Sanlu milk scandal.

  [Image courtesy of the BBC.]

  » Read more
  • November 16, 2008 9:13 PM

• Eggs Recalled, Exports Halted as China’s Food Crisis Worsens

  

  Following the discovery of melamine-tainted eggs in Hong Kong, authorities have imposed an export ban on Dalian-based Hanwei Group, and retailers voluntarily recalled eggs for sale. From AFP:

  The problem emerged over the weekend when Hong Kong authorities said eggs from Hanwei were tainted with melamine, the same chemical that was mixed into China’s milk products and led to the deaths of four babies.

  Officials and China’s state-controlled press reported on Wednesday that eggs from other suppliers had also been found to be contaminated with melamine, which can give food the appearance of higher protein levels.

  Against this backdrop, some supermarkets in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities announced they were recalling various brands of eggs, although others appeared unsure what to do with the central government yet to give directives.

  The Hong Kong media has published a great deal of criticism of the tainted eggs issue. Below is one such example on Wen Wei Po, by commentator, Ji Xiaohua (紀曉華 ), who wrote a piece that has been reposted on many blogs in mainland China, excerpts translated by CDT:

  The Da Lian Han Wei Co., Ltd deliberately kept secret the melamine contamination in the eggs exported to Hong Kong and Japan. It is ironic that Mr Han Wei, the Chairman, reiterated his concerns about the food safety issue in CPPCC proposals at least ten times.

  Mr Han was crowned the “King of Chinese Chicken” and many other glorious titles. He won three successive reelections to the CPPCC National Committee and served as the Chairman of the National Alliance of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce Departments. At the annual CPPCC meetings and National People’s Congress meetings, he passionately criticized the food safety problems and once expressed to the media his deep worries over the Sudan Red issue.

  “People are the priority for the government. Food is the priority for people and food safety is the priority for everyone. Food safety is the fundamental issue our people care about, so we should all pay close attention to it.” “Food safety is no minor issue and we should treat it very carefully.” These are quotes from Mr. Han Wei at the CPPCC meetings, yet they sound so ironic after seeing his actions.

  UPDATE: David Bandurski wrote Shanghai, Guangzhou media spearhead “bad egg” coverage in the China Media Project.

  » Read more
  • October 29, 2008 10:04 AM

• Financial Meltdown Worsens Food Crisis

  

  The global financial crisis is exacerbating the existing food crisis, which was already sending food prices through the roof around the world. The Washington Post reports on the impact of China’s response for consumers in other countries:

  China — the world’s biggest grain and rice producer and the biggest exporter of certain types of fertilizer — could see its moves having ripple effects on vulnerable countries.

  [...] China’s new taxes on fertilizer exports, which went into effect Sept. 1, range from 150 to 185 percent. Chinese authorities said they need to ensure that prices are low at home to protect their own farmers and ensure an adequate supply of food for their residents.
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  Although the measure has been good for China, it has been devastating to other countries. A dozen Chinese fertilizer companies said they had stopped exporting this month.

  » Read more
  • October 25, 2008 9:32 PM

• Will China Starve the World?

  

  The Motley Fool looks at how China’s agricultural practices and economic growth are impacting the world food supply, in an article that revisits Lester Brown’s question, “Who Will Feed China?“:

  According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, China has 40% of the world’s farmers — yet just 10% of the world’s arable land. Taken together, that means its agricultural operations are generally small-scale, hard to manage, and woefully inefficient. Carter also pointed out that although farmers are 40% of China’s labor force, they produce less than 12% of the GDP. Finally, China has produced just 1% yield growth over the past 10 years, while the U.S. has increased its own yields by approximately 2.5% annually.

  For a country seeing a rapidly increasing demand for food, these are damning statistics. It means that without substantial improvements to efficiency, the world will see rapidly rising food prices and the possibility for food shortages as the Chinese government — flush with cash — buys up more and more of global supply. This could ultimately lead to countries, fearing scarcity, shutting down their agricultural export markets, which would have an enormous slowing effect on the global economy.

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  • September 24, 2008 9:00 PM

• China Trade Deficit In Food Up 14-fold: Report

  

  From AFP:

  China registered a 7.57 billion dollar trade deficit in agricultural products during the first five months of 2008, up by more than 14-fold over the same period last year, state press said Sunday.

  China imported 23.75 billion dollars of agricultural products in that period, up 59 percent over last year, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing the agriculture ministry.

  The nation exported 16.18 billion dollars of agricultural products during the period, up 12 percent over the first five months of 2007, it said.

  China has reacted to soaring global food prices by raising taxes on food exports this year by up to 25 percent.

  Read also China’s farm produce trade deficit up 14.3 times in first five months by Xinhua.

  » Read more
  • July 13, 2008 8:26 AM

• China Steps up Efforts to Curb Grain Smuggling: Official Media

  

  From AFP:

  China has stepped up efforts to curb illegal wheat and rice exports as traders try to smuggle out grain to take advantage of record high global prices, state press reported on Monday.

  The problems with the smuggling comes as China is trying a range of measures to keep its domestic grain supplies stable amid soaring inflation that has seen sharp price rises for nearly all food products since last year.

  Customs officials in the eastern city of Hangzhou city stopped four attempts in the past several weeks that could have shipped nearly seven tonnes of rice and 33 tonnes of wheat out of the country illegally, the China Daily said.

  Read also China cracks down on illegal grain exports by Xinhua.

  » Read more
  • May 5, 2008 1:14 AM

• US Health Official Plans for Food, Drug Inspectors in China

  

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration expects to have eight of its employees stationed in China by this October in order to better monitor food exports. The FDA announced this plan in March, and now the Associated Press reports that it is close to being approved by Chinese officials.

  U.S. food and drug regulators will start working in China next month once Beijing gives its final approval, the top U.S. health official said Tuesday.

  Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said the Food and Drug Administration is planning to open an office in China as part of a change in strategy following product safety problems in Chinese imports that prompted several health scares and have been linked to some deaths.

  “In the past, the United States and many other countries have employed a strategy of standing at the border trying to catch things that aren’t safe,” Leavitt said in an AP interview during a visit to Singapore.

  However, he said it is impossible to inspect all of the massive amounts of goods that enter the country.

  “So we’re changing our strategy from one of trying to catch unsafe products to building safety into the products,” Leavitt said. “Our purpose is not just inspection, it’s building capacity and maintaining relationships between regulators.”

  See also the FDA’s original press release and the Washington Post’s slideshow of Mike Leavitt’s visit to Singapore.

  » Read more
  • April 15, 2008 10:34 PM

• China’s Genetically Altered Food Boom

  

  European countries will now require Chinese rice imports to be certified that they have been tested for a genetically modified version. The new regulation comes after genetically altered rice, which has yet to approved for human consumption, found its way into China’s food industry last year. Time reports on how the West is warily looking at China’s growth and technological development of genetically modified foods.

  The measure underscores a discomfort in the West with China’s growing dominance in the business of inventing and selling genetically modified seed. Faced with feeding every fifth person on the planet with less than one-tenth of the world’s farmland, Beijing has been pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into transgenic crop research and development, hoping the plants, whose DNA is combined with genetic material that programs them with traits like pest and weed resistance, will help farmers yield more food and commodities at a lower cost — especially as farmland is being lost to development and drought. Most of China’s cotton is already transgenic, and rice, wheat, maize, soybeans and livestock are in the pipeline. “China decided that conventional technology would not allow it to feed its people,” says Clive James, chairman and founder of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). In the 12 years since GM crops have been commercially grown, James says most planting has been in the Americas. “I believe that the second decade will be the decade of Asia,” he says.

  It’s a shift that’s causing second thoughts on both sides of this enduringly controversial technology.

  » Read more
  • February 19, 2008 2:11 PM

• EU Puts Strict Testing on China Rice

  

  The European Union issued strict testing rules on imported rice from China this week. The policy change comes after EU officials repeatedly warned China to keep a banned rice out of Europe. From the Associated Press via the Houston Chronicle:

  EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said the decision was intended to prevent any future imports of the banned Bt-63, genetically modified variety of rice, which was discovered during 2006-2007 by national food safety authorities.

  “Under food safety legislation only GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) which have undergone a thorough scientific assessment and authorization procedure may be put on the EU market,” Kyprianou said in a statement.

  The new testing, scheduled to begin April 15, will raise costs for Chinese exporters.

  

  » Read more
  • February 15, 2008 12:34 AM

• Mexican chillies feel the chill – Jo Tuckman

  

  From the Guardian:

  They may be as much a symbol of Mexico as sombreros and cacti, but chillies in the country are starting to lose some of their national flavour in favour of a Chinese tang.

  Farmers in Mexico are complaining that cheap imported varieties from China now represent nearly half national production of dehydrated chillies. Imports of fresh chillies remain minimal, although Mexican farmers worry for how much longer.

  » Read more
  • September 10, 2005 9:01 AM

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