China's farmers and farm produce companies should prepare
themselves for stricter rules on food exports soon to be imposed by
Japan and the European Union if they want to continue exporting to
the two economies, said the Ministry of Commerce.
The new rules could potentially weaken the competitiveness of
China's agricultural exports, an official from the Ministry's
Foreign Trade Department said yesterday.
"The new rules will limit our access to Japan and EU markets.
For Chinese agricultural product providers, they (the rules) are
very complicated," he said.
Japan is imposing rules on levels and types of residues, such as
pesticides and chemical sprays, found on treated foods. It will
implement a "positive list" system from May 2006 for agricultural
chemical residues, in particular on pesticides. The system is
designed to prohibit the sale of foods carrying high levels of
agricultural chemical residues, by setting maximum residue
limits.
Once the new requirements take effect, many residues found on
treated foods that have been previously evaluated for health and
safety, and passed by regulatory systems throughout the world, will
no longer be allowed in Japan.
"China's vegetable and tea exports to Japan will be hardest hit
by the new residue rules," the official said.
The EU rules apply to the safety standards of food products of
animal origin, and are part of the region's ongoing reform of food
safety laws. It has said documents will have to accompany all
imported food products of animal origin and must show detailed
information on the entire food chain of that product, filled out by
each food business operator involved along the food chain.
In addition, the EU will implement legislation relating to
animal feed standards on January 1.
Agricultural experts said the most radical feature of the new EU
regulations is the measures which will be imposed on European
importers who do not comply with the new rules. Consequently, there
are high operational requirements for Chinese agricultural
exporters where care and attention must be taken at every stage of
the food chain of exported animal food products.
"Beginning next year, the Ministry will carry out training in
main farming areas to help farmers adjust to the new rules," the
official from the ministry's foreign trade department said.
China's agricultural product exports have maintained growth
despite facing severe challenges from increasing foreign technical
standards.
China's exports of farm products rose 23 percent year-on-year to
US$19.6 billion in the first nine months of this year.
Japan and the EU are China's top two agricultural export
regions, with Japan accounting for one third of China's farm
produce exports and the EU market representing more than 10
percent.
Chinese farmers have paid a heavy price for high foreign
technical standards.
In early 2002, the EU began to ban imports of Chinese foods of
animal origin, plus seafood and other aquatic products, although
this ban was lifted two years later.
It resulted in a 70 percent slump in China's aquatic product
exports in the second half of 2002.
(China Daily November 29, 2005)