中國嚴格限制嬰兒配方奶粉進口
China has clamped down on importers of infant formula exploiting the nation’s hunger for foreign brands, as part of an effort to restore the local dairy industry’s share of the national market.
中國已開始嚴格限制嬰兒配方奶粉進口商，以此作爲恢復國產乳品行業佔國內市場份額努力的一部分。在此之前，這些進口商一直在利用中國國民對外國品牌奶粉的渴望牟利。A 2008 scandal in which domestic milk was deliberately adulterated with melamine, a byproduct of coal, in order to fake protein tests is still hurting Chinese dairy producers more than five years on. Foreign infant formula brands now account for half the market, up from about 30 per cent before the revelation that at least six infants had died and 300,000 were made ill after drinking tainted formula.
2008年發生的一起醜聞傷害了中國乳品製造商逾五年，這種傷害的影響仍在繼續。目前，外國嬰兒配方奶粉佔據了國內市場份額的一半，而在該醜聞曝光之前，這一份額只有30%。在那次醜聞中，中國國產奶粉被故意摻入了一種煤炭業的副產品——三聚氰胺，以便以作假方式通過蛋白質含量測試。爆料顯示，該事件中至少有6名嬰兒喪生，30萬名嬰兒在喝了被污染過的奶粉後患病。Since then, Chinese parents have snapped up infant formula with any international connection, allowing foreign brands to charge a hefty premium and spawning a homegrown industry of smugglers hauling boxes of formula into the country. Some Chinese companies have even set up shop in New Zealand repacking bulk formula and selling it into China as a foreign brand.
自此以後，中國的父母始終在通過各種國際渠道搶購嬰兒奶粉，令外國品牌的奶粉得以大幅加價出售，還在中國國內催生了一種新的行業——“水客”們將成箱的嬰兒奶粉偷運進中國。部分中國企業甚至在新西蘭設了車間，將成品嬰兒配方奶粉重新打包，並以外國品牌返銷國內。
New rules issued over the weekend require dairy products produced overseas to be registered with the quality watchdog, or be barred from entry at China’s ports. A second regulation requires all formula sold in China to carry Chinese-language labelling affixed at the source.
上週末發佈的新規定要求在國外生產的奶製品必須在中國質檢總局註冊，否則將禁止進入中國口岸。還有一條規定則要求所有在華銷售的嬰兒配方奶粉必須帶有在原產地貼上的中文標識。Together, the regulations appear to be aimed at importers redirecting formula products originally destined for different markets, as well as shutting down the domestic and overseas-based repackagers trying to capitalise on the “imported” cachet sparked by the safety scare.
這兩條規定合在一起，似乎是爲了應對那些從其他市場向中國轉運配方奶粉的進口商。同時，這兩條規定還能堵上中國本土和國外從事再包裝的商家通路，他們試圖從因國內安全擔憂而被罩上光環的“進口貨”中獲利。The new move coincides with state efforts to support and promote domestic brands. In 2013, China floated a plan to subsidise five domestic producers, including four of the country’s largest dairy producers and the previously unknown Treasure of Plateau, which had begun producing formula from yak’s milk in 2012.
這一新的舉措恰逢中國大力扶持國內品牌之際。2013年，中國提出了一個計劃，爲五家國內生產商提供補貼。這五家生產商包括中國四家最大的奶製品生產商，以及此前名不見經傳的高原之寶(Treasure of Plateau)。高原之寶是一家從2012年開始用犛牛奶生產嬰兒配方奶粉的奶製品生產商。Beijing city has allocated Rmb10m ($1.6m) to local champion Sanyuan to develop a national indigenous brand “fit for the growth of Chinese babies,” the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Monday. Sanyuan products tested free of melamine products in 2008, but it subsequently bought many of the assets of state-owned formula maker Sanlu based in neighbouring Hebei province, which was at the centre of the scandal.
據《北京青年報》(Beijing Youth Daily)週一報道，北京市爲當地冠軍企業三元(Sanyuan)撥款1000萬元人民幣（合160萬美元），以開發“適合中國嬰兒成長”的中國本土品牌。2008年，三元在檢測中未發現帶有三聚氰胺的產品，不過該公司後來收購了許多三鹿集團(Sanlu)的資產。三鹿集團是一家總部位於與河北省的國有嬰兒奶粉生產商，該集團正是三聚氰胺醜聞的當事人。State-led efforts to revive the domestic industry have included regulations that dairy product suppliers invest in their own dairy farms and the acquisition of formerly private market leader Mengniu by state agribusiness giant Cofco. But the efforts have done little to restore public confidence in the industry.
中國實施了一系列政府主導下的復甦國內乳品產業的努力，包括規定奶製品供應商應投資建立自己的奶牛場，由國有農產品企業巨頭中糧集團(COFCO)出面收購曾經的頂尖民企蒙牛(Mengniu)。但這些努力對恢復公衆對該產業的信心沒起到什麼作用。China imported a record 1m tons of milk powder last year, customs data shows. In the first quarter of this year, imports rose nearly 24 per cent to 240,000 tons.
海關數據顯示，去年中國進口奶粉達到創紀錄的100萬噸。今年第一季度，奶粉進口量增至24萬噸，增長了將近24%。One of the biggest beneficiaries has been New Zealand, whose national dairy co-operative Fonterra had partnered Sanlu and blew the whistle on the melamine adulteration. Chinese dairy companies have invested in New Zealand farms to bolster their own reputation and secure milk powder supply, while Fonterra is now investing directly in dairy farms in China.
這種局面下最大的受益者就是新西蘭。新西蘭國家級乳品聯營公司恆天然(Fonterra)曾與三鹿集團合作，還揭發過三鹿奶粉摻雜三聚氰胺的情況。中國乳品企業一直在投資新西蘭農場，以提高自身的聲譽，並確保奶粉供應源頭的安全。同時，恆天然也在直接投資中國的奶牛場。
