United States government officials are visiting Beijing this week for five days of talks on food safety. The Chinese government is expected to send a reciprocal delegation to Washington a month later to further discussions towards the signing of a memorandum of understanding on product safety. Mainland officials are optimistic that it can be signed by the end of the year, if not sooner.
Recent revelations of dangerous products from the mainland and subsequent rejections of US and European consignments of food products have caused a media blitz. Beijing has responded with numerous public statements demonstrating its frustration with what officials see as undeserved criticism, 'politicisation' and exaggeration of the problem.
The Chinese embassy in Washington released a lengthy statement on July 18 defending mainland products and calling for US co-operation. Notably, the statement pointed to findings in two surveys of food products in Hong Kong this year, which found quality ratings reaching '99.6 per cent'. Importing up to 70 per cent of its food from the mainland, Hong Kong is no stranger to food scares from there. Seeking to maintain confidence in its food supply, Hong Kong has reacted to its own widely publicised events which have affected seafood, poultry, vegetables and ready-to-eat products.
Unlike the US, the mainland's government is not a federal system. Hong Kong authorities compensate by establishing contacts with provincial authorities, which have greater power over local processors and exporters than the central authorities in Beijing. Establishing relations with provincial authorities allows Hong Kong regulators to better manage registration of approved exporters. Effective registration and a cartel system of approved suppliers for specific products enables better inspections of shipments bound for Hong Kong, as well as a more targeted response when non-conforming shipments are discovered.
The mainland's food processing industry is highly fragmented, due to local protectionism and the absence of large producers, distributors and suppliers with national reach. As a result, contamination problems are most often local, not national. If a particular product is found to be adulterated or contaminated, Hong Kong authorities react by banning or increasing inspection regimes on products from a specific jurisdiction, rather than the entire country.
Beijing would do well to recognise that it is obligated to meet the requirements of its customers and consider that market access is a privilege gained by adhering to quality standards. Likewise, the US would benefit by improving its capacity to manage the increasing volume of imports, and devise strategies to adapt to globalisation and China's increasing integration with the world economy.
