Mainland buyers snap up baby milk powder


China Daily, February 14, 2011

Mainland parents have been buying Hong Kong and Macao milk powder since the contaminated baby formula scandal in 2008 on the Chinese mainland.

Mainland parents have been buying Hong Kong and Macao milk powder since the contaminated baby formula scandal in 2008 on the Chinese mainland. [Xinhua]

Macao is following Hong Kong in reporting a shortage of, and price increases for, infant and baby milk powder, with visitors and smugglers from the mainland snapping up stocks during the Chinese new year holiday.

Some Macao parents say they are finding it hard to secure the supply of the brands they want for their infants and babies, and some are calling for the implementation of a milk powder tax on visitors to Macao, China News Service reported at the weekend.

Milk powder prices have risen about 10 percent across Macao, the report said.

The report cited one unnamed pharmacy at the border between Macao and Zhuhai, Guangdong province, as saying the new morning shipments are usually all sold out by the afternoon. One mainland visitor at the pharmacy wanted 20 tins of milk powder but had to make do with two.

Amid the milk powder scramble, travel agencies have adjusted their routes in order to guide visitors to the shops selling quality milk powder and are allowing more shopping time, according to the Association of Macao Tourist Agents.

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