'Green Barrier' Stifles China's Agro Exports

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, March 31, 2002

'Green Barrier' Stifles China's Agro Exports

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China's agricultural exports are being stifled by "green barriers" -- import restrictions on the grounds of environmental and food safety issues -- but Chinese farmers are now fighting back with "green" produce.

Increasingly formidable non-tariff barriers placed by import countries have created a pressure on China's farm produce exports even with the lowering of tariffs after China's entry into the World Trade Organization.

China's tea exports to the European Union dropped by 37 percent last year on an annual basis, which was principally attributed to intensified import criteria -- examination categories soared from six to 62 after November last year.

Officials with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation conceded that some developed countries have multiplied import examination items and heightened the requirements on China's exports.

According to figures from United Nations organizations, 7.4 billion U.S. dollars of exports from China covering agriculture and other industries were stifled by the growing green barrier annually.

In an effort to deal with the difficulties, China has taken up the challenge to improve its own agricultural structure.

"China has pinpointed green food as a vanguard to break the barrier and boost agricultural exports. The development can also greatly improve the agricultural environment," said Liang Zhichao, of the China Green Food Development Center (CGFD).

The organization is solely authorized by the Chinese government to issue the authentication of "green" and organic food to producers.

Liang said that the quality of China's farm produce has to meetthe internationally popular CAC Standard on food hygiene, and more rigorous requirements which vary from country to country, in orderto enter markets in developed countries.

He said that the CGFD has just signed a contract with the Organic Food Program with the Agriculture Department of the State of Washington on opening market to each other's organic farmproduce.

Prior to this, the CGFD had clinched similar agreements with green food authorities in Germany and Japan to help promote international markets for China's green food.

Liang said that China's green food has matched the strict quality and quarantine standards in developed countries. So far, the CGFD has not registered a single record of an export setback.

The term "green food" only appeared in China 10 years ago. However, exports have been increasing at an annual rate of 50 percent to 300 million U.S. dollars last year. China has decided to make even bolder efforts to tap its huge potential, since green products make up only two percent of total agricultural exports.

After successive bumper harvests, China has reached a supply-demand balance on the agricultural market. With an obviously improved awareness of environmental importance and food safety, the country's emphasis on green agriculture also complies with theenhanced living standards of the Chinese people.

China is aiming to raise the output of green food to 45 milliontons by 2005 from 10 million tons recorded last year, when the more than 1,000 authorized producers had a sales revenue of 40 billion yuan.

China has built a nationwide network providing authentication monitoring, technical services and quality inspection of green food producers, whose products are specifically regulated by some 80 clauses of state requirements.

Meanwhile, related departments are drafting a law on the quality and safety of agricultural products, which is expected to hold producers and dealers of poisonous and harmful farm produce legally responsible.

China launched an action plan last year, calling for the coordination of the agriculture, industry, market and health departments at various levels to make a "field-to-the-table" supervision of the safety of farm produce.

The Ministry of Agriculture has overseen more than 3.2 million hectares of farmland, pasture and water ecology being brought under the development of environment-friendly farming of green products.

In these areas, farmers' income has been substantially increased. In northeast Heilongjiang Province, China's largest green food exporter, 40 percent of farmers' income growth was realized by developing green food.

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