Mainland buyers snap up baby milk powder

China Daily, February 14, 2011

One Macao parent posted a suggestion online proposing the introduction of a milk powder tax on visitors to Macao that has received numerous positive responses from netizens, according to the China News Service report.

Mainland parents, especially those from neighboring Guangdong province, have been buying Hong Kong and Macao milk powder since the contaminated baby formula scandal in 2008 on the Chinese mainland, when baby formula tainted with the industrial chemical melamine - which was added to watered-down raw milk to boost fake protein readings during quality tests - killed at least six babies and made 300,000 seriously ill.

Mainland parents are also attracted by the lower prices in Hong Kong and Macao, with the price gap further stretched by the appreciating Chinese yuan. A tin of milk powder is 10 to 20 percent cheaper in Macao than on the mainland.

A similar milk powder shopping spree and shortage happened in Hong Kong before the Chinese new year holidays, prompting parents to call for a milk powder tax on visitors to Hong Kong.

Despite the huge demand, the supply is largely set with the supplier determining the quota for regions every year.