Criticism over China's frozen dumpling exports to Japan could
worsen the bilateral trade environment and cause unnecessary
disputes over other foods, a Chinese researcher said on Sunday.
Tang Chunfeng, an expert on Japanese issues with the Research
Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said that he was very
concerned about the dumpling scare. "Since the real cause is still
under investigation, I don't think it wise to blame the Chinese
side for it," he said.
Nearly 300 people have sought medical treatment, with one girl
in serious condition, since a Japanese company last week said that
frozen meat dumplings produced at the Tianyang Food Plant in Hebei
Province contained insecticide, according to Japanese media
reports.
Japanese authorities found an insecticide called methamidophos
in the vomit of the poisoned people and food packages at their
houses.
But tests showed that the rest of the dumplings from the same
batches sold in Japan, totaling more than 2,000 packages, were
safe. So were all the other products made by the Chinese company,
said Wang Daning, an official at the General Administration of
Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
Cheng Fang, the Hebei Provincial Entry-Exit Inspection and
Quarantine Bureau director, said that China had banned the use of
the pesticide in question (methamidophos) since 2004.
"We investigated samples of dumplings that affected the
Japanese, as well as dumplings produced within 11 days around the
dates of Oct. 1 and Oct. 20. No traces of the pesticide were
found," he said.
Investigators have queried 30 workers of Tianyang and the
purchasing, manufacturing, storing and transporting processes of
the factory without finding any problem with food quality, he
added.
Di Menglu, Tianyang Food manager, ruled out the possibility of
contamination when he spoke on Saturday evening at a press
conference. He said that the dumplings had been put into sealed
containers once they came off the production lines. He said that
the factory was "shocked" at the incident and suspended production
on Wednesday afternoon. All its products were recalled.
Ding extended his sympathy, on behalf of all factory workers, to
the Japanese consumers, expressed hope for their early recovery and
pledged to cooperate fully with investigators.
"Since the investigators in Japan and China have agreed not to
release any subjective judgment before a final result comes out,
media from both countries had better wait and avoid being emotional
and sensational," Tang said.
As an expert who participated in official bilateral negotiations
on farm produce trade many times, Tang said that the dispute was
touching a sensitive nerve in Japan -- food self-sufficiency.
"Some Japanese officials were very concerned with the country's
dependency on food imports," he said, citing Japanese figures that
showed in 2005, domestic supply accounted for only 26 percent of
Japan's food consumption. That was far below the internationally
accepted baseline of 42 percent, he said.
As Japanese-grown agricultural products were much more expensive
than Chinese imports, Japanese businesses preferred to bring in
food from China, which would increase profits, he explained.
China's exports to Japan rose 11.4 percent year-on-year to hit
102.07 billion U.S. dollars last year. But that figure was dwarfed
by China's imports from Japan, which hit 133.95 billion U.S.
dollars, up 15.8 percent year-on-year, according to China's customs
figures.
(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2008)
