China: Sowing the seeds of domestic success
The country has emerged as the world's largest producer of fruit and vegetables, providing 20 percent of the fruit on the global market, and more than 50 percent of vegetables, according to the 2013 Statistical Yearbook of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.
However, China's exported products have a much better safety record than the domestic variety. In Shandong, the country's largest vegetable-export base, more than 99.95 percent of exported agricultural produce passed the official tests last year.
China's total vegetable export volume reached $11.6 billion in 2013, a year-on-year increase of 16.2 percent, while that of fruits reached $6.32 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
In Guangdong province, farm owners are using the certificates that allow them to export their products to Hong Kong as a means of accessing other high-end agricultural markets. They point to the fact that Hong Kong has higher standards for imported agricultural products than the mainland.
Different standards
The fact that exporters are using their export-certification status to access China's high-end market underlines the country's lower safety standards for agricultural produce, according to experts.
"There are 35 pesticides on the national list of banned pesticides, but in our county alone, 55 different pesticides are banned, as required by the export-destination countries," said Li Jianfang, director of Anqiu's Agricultural Product Safety Office.
Compared with major importers of Chinese-grown fruits and vegetables, including the European Union, the United States and Japan, China's safety standards for agricultural products lag far behind.
Some experts and officials have called for the domestic product safety standards to be raised to ensure consumer safety.
At a forum in 2012, Dong Xide, deputy director of the Agricultural Department of Shanxi province, said that an item destined for export to Japan had to pass more than 240 tests, but only a handful of tests were required if the same item was to be sold domestically.
Dong said China should implement the same standards, and supply the same high-quality produce to both domestic and foreign consumers, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
Challenges remain
However, many exporters have conceded that several challenges have yet to be addressed if they are to further exploit the domestic market. For example, most of the products sold in destination countries bear the logos and labels of foreign food companies, and not those of the Chinese producers. This has resulted in a lack of domestic awareness of Chinese companies, despite the excellence of their products. "We need to shore up our brands and distribution channels, although that would mean costs would increase," Wang, of Genseida, said.
Li Binglong, a professor at the College of Economics and Management at China Agricultural University in Beijing, said branding and marketing are crucial steps for agricultural exporters looking to break into the domestic market. "That means more brands should be established to help farmers face up to market challenges," he said.
Another restraining factor is the lack of effective refrigeration systems, or "cold chains", whereby perishable goods can be stored for long periods prior to sale, according to officials.
Qiu Haifang, deputy mayor of Anqiu, said the large sums required mean few farmers are willing to invest in cold-chain facilities, despite the obvious benefits, especially in terms of sheltering producers from market risks and extreme fluctuations in prices.
"Refrigeration is a crucial part of the vegetable industry if we want to further expand our retail chains. The authorities can provide the farmers with guidance in that regard, but ultimately it's up to producers to invest and beef up their production capacities. If they don't do that, it could be very hard for them to succeed in the domestic market," she said.
Source: ecns.cn