Beginning next month, fruit vendors who want to sell imported produce in Shanghai will have to apply for approval from the Shanghai Fruit Business Association, officials said over the weekend.

The effect of the rule will be limited, however, as it only covers companies that are members of the association, a group that represents 60 percent of the city's fruit vendors.

According to the system, fruit trade companies and markets must submit a letter of commitment to the association, promising that they are selling genuine imported fruit. After inspection, the association will issue a certificate allowing the companies and markets to deal with imported fruit.

The imported fruit retailers are also required to post the certificate and production site of the fruit. Officials with the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau will be in charge of the inspection work.

Association officials said the system will first be tested in large wholesale markets including Shanghai Fruit King Food Co Ltd, Huazhong Fruit and Agricultural Products Trade Center, Shanghai Shanhua Fruit Wholesale Market and Shanghai Agricultural Products Center.

"We decided to introduce the market entrance system because many fruit sellers tend to disguise homebred fruits as imported fruits, which are more expensive," said Yuan Yaxiang, a spokesman for the association. "This not only harms the interests of consumers but also has a negative impact on foreign fruit traders."

It is a common practice among some fruit sellers to buy fake labels for imported fruit and attach the labels to homebred fruits, allowing them to charge two to three times the price they could for domestic produce.

Kiwis from New Zealand and Sunkist oranges from the United States are often counterfeited, association officials said.

Officials from the Huangpu branch of the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said they have conducted several inspections on wholesale markets near the Bund but it is difficult to stop the counterfeiting completely.

"We need the cooperation of the administrative department and tougher punishments for those caught selling counterfeiting imported fruit," Yuan said.

(Shanghai Daily February 21, 2005)