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Foreign buyers of Chinese food are asking for safety tests following the
melamine pet food debacle, threatening the country's competitive position in
a wide range of markets, including organic ingredients by Nao Nakanishi .
Industry officials said U.S. and other firms had demanded a certificate that
farm products were free of melamine.

Their comments came after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration team visited
China to investigate how melamine, a chemical product, got into pet food,
killing at least 16 pets in the United States and leading to a recall of
more than 100 brands of pet food.

Costs for such safety checks are expected to soar, especially as it would
take time for the country to build up reliable nationwide quality controls.

"This scandal has had severe consequences for the whole industry," said Chuk
Ng, general manager of Nutrogen (Dalian) Co. Ltd, a company specialising in
organic and non-genetically modified (GMO) farm products.

"Now the European and U.S. clients are checking every batch of products
coming from China ... The GMO test is one. Now you add tests for melamine or
other heavy metals or pesticides, the costs are very high, too high," Ng
said.

Pressured by the U.S. government after the melamine breaches, Beijing has
pledged to act on food safety and announced an industry clean-up that would
bring inspections for fertiliser, pesticides and additives in livestock
feed.

Foreign buyers, reluctant to take risks, are sending large quantities of
food samples to international testing specialists such as Eurofins
Scientific or SGS Group.

Japan, own systems

The industry officials said Japan, which accounts for about a quarter of
China's farm product exports, had also recommended importers check for
melamine in Chinese products, such as rice flour or wheat gluten, for use in
animal feed.

"The safety tests for raw materials are likely to get tougher," said a
senior official from a Japanese food processing plant in China.

"Eventually they could demand traceability similar to that for non-GMO
products ... which would raise costs. Given higher costs and credibility,
there's a question if you would still want to buy raw materials from China."

A year ago Japan tightened safety checks on farm products from China, which
has angered Beijing. The new rules require checks for nearly 300 pesticides
and chemicals residues at loading ports as well as at discharging ports.

Asked how to guarantee the quality of food imported from China, an official
in charge of food safety at one of Hong Kong's largest food retailers said:
"It's very important to get system in place for traceability all the way
back in the supply chain.

"When you have traceability, you can then have accountability. I think this
is what China lacks."

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