TREVOR
Wed, Nov-02-05, 06:16
The Origin of the Kimchi Accidents-- Korean Importers It has
been a big hotspot in Korean media recently that excessive
lead was detected in Chinese kimchi and not long after that
parasite eggs were found in it. Is it really news? New as it
is, we don't find it as a fact. The fact is: many importers in
Europe, America and Japan have entrusted the authorities in
their countries with the related detections to Chinese kimchi;
no lead was found; no parasite egg was found. Here is a
question: why is only Chinese kimchi imported to South Korea
contaminated? We will find that it is no coincidence after a
brief survey of the situation of kimchi production in China.
There are three grades of it: the best is to be exported to
European, American countries and Japan, at the price of 1,500
US dollars per M/T; the pretty good is to be sold domestically
in China, at the price of 8300 RMB per M/T, that is, 1000 US
dollars; and the least good is to be sold to South Korea, at
the average price of 410 US dollars per M/T, and the lowest
can be 210 US dollars per M/T. According to the economic
rules, agricultural products, differing from others, which can
debase costs by the improvement and renovation of technology,
have a cost that cannot be reduced easily. Land resources and
labors are something that cost almost the same in a certain
area. And, they have been more and more expensive in China
nowadays. The price of kimchi imported by South Korea is much
lower than the fundamental cost. How does it come? Reasons are
simple. They produce kimchi in some simple and crude workshops
which are unregistered in the government, with raw
material--cabbage and capsicum powder of low quality. We can
imagine how the final products will be like. Then, illegal
methods will be used to make sure such kimchi can be exported
to South Korea. As a smart people, Korean must know well about
the economic rules. There can be only one reason why they
collect cheap kimchi--they have their intentions. By importing
low-grade kimchi from China, they bring a public impression
that all Chinese kimchi is unqualified and harmful to human
health. Qingdao Meiying Food Co,. Ltd., as a leading kimchi
enterprise in China, deals most of its exportation with
high-level foreign companies. Scores of Korean importers come
to talk about business with it, all in vain. That is because
price is the only thing they would care about. One such
importer even said, "I wonder why you produce so good kimchi.
It's no need at all that you pay so much attention to the
quality, as to heighten the price." As a matter of fact,
Chinese and Korean kimchi, belonging to the same industry,
have their common interests. Producers from both countries are
liable to maintain the good image of kimchi, to set the
consumers' heart at rest to eat kimchi. All efforts by Korean
media trying to do bad to the fame of kimchi is unwise, for
most of the raw materials of South Korea are imported from
China. And, it can be easy if they want to import high-grade
Chinese kimchi. All they need to do is buy it from
manufacturers registered in the CIQ, whose products are
qualified and clean enough.
been a big hotspot in Korean media recently that excessive
lead was detected in Chinese kimchi and not long after that
parasite eggs were found in it. Is it really news? New as it
is, we don't find it as a fact. The fact is: many importers in
Europe, America and Japan have entrusted the authorities in
their countries with the related detections to Chinese kimchi;
no lead was found; no parasite egg was found. Here is a
question: why is only Chinese kimchi imported to South Korea
contaminated? We will find that it is no coincidence after a
brief survey of the situation of kimchi production in China.
There are three grades of it: the best is to be exported to
European, American countries and Japan, at the price of 1,500
US dollars per M/T; the pretty good is to be sold domestically
in China, at the price of 8300 RMB per M/T, that is, 1000 US
dollars; and the least good is to be sold to South Korea, at
the average price of 410 US dollars per M/T, and the lowest
can be 210 US dollars per M/T. According to the economic
rules, agricultural products, differing from others, which can
debase costs by the improvement and renovation of technology,
have a cost that cannot be reduced easily. Land resources and
labors are something that cost almost the same in a certain
area. And, they have been more and more expensive in China
nowadays. The price of kimchi imported by South Korea is much
lower than the fundamental cost. How does it come? Reasons are
simple. They produce kimchi in some simple and crude workshops
which are unregistered in the government, with raw
material--cabbage and capsicum powder of low quality. We can
imagine how the final products will be like. Then, illegal
methods will be used to make sure such kimchi can be exported
to South Korea. As a smart people, Korean must know well about
the economic rules. There can be only one reason why they
collect cheap kimchi--they have their intentions. By importing
low-grade kimchi from China, they bring a public impression
that all Chinese kimchi is unqualified and harmful to human
health. Qingdao Meiying Food Co,. Ltd., as a leading kimchi
enterprise in China, deals most of its exportation with
high-level foreign companies. Scores of Korean importers come
to talk about business with it, all in vain. That is because
price is the only thing they would care about. One such
importer even said, "I wonder why you produce so good kimchi.
It's no need at all that you pay so much attention to the
quality, as to heighten the price." As a matter of fact,
Chinese and Korean kimchi, belonging to the same industry,
have their common interests. Producers from both countries are
liable to maintain the good image of kimchi, to set the
consumers' heart at rest to eat kimchi. All efforts by Korean
media trying to do bad to the fame of kimchi is unwise, for
most of the raw materials of South Korea are imported from
China. And, it can be easy if they want to import high-grade
Chinese kimchi. All they need to do is buy it from
manufacturers registered in the CIQ, whose products are
qualified and clean enough.