[時事討論] 美企沃爾瑪指中國官方「玩針對」　政府與生產商就食物安全齊卸責

本帖最後由 felicity2010 於 2014-4-14 10:02 PM 編輯
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美企沃爾瑪指中國官方「玩針對」　政府與生產商就食物安全齊卸責

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今年1月，中國央視《焦點訪談》提到，美資連鎖超級市場沃爾瑪經常以「特別批准」手段，讓沒有取得當局相關許可證的食品，在其超市公然發售，謀取較大利潤。本報亦曾就此作出報道。《華爾街日報》今日提到，沃爾瑪在過去三年，已經被中國政府因為價格誤導、錯誤食物標籤及售賣次貨等理由，罰款980萬美元（約7598萬港元）。1 T7 o  Z/ S2 ^6 i! R7 M

報道指出，雖然沃爾瑪願意加強食物抽查，甚至為部分食品進行基因測試，然而，《華爾街日報》指沃爾瑪作出了不少在中國營商的外國公司都不敢作出的指控，把矛頭指向中國政府不好好監管國內批發商產品的質素。
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沃爾瑪在中國的主管指出，當中國官媒、政府處處將售賣劣質食物、影響食物質素的責任推到沃爾瑪身上時，同樣的高標準，卻未有應用在其他本地零售商身上。更重要的是，不同於美國認為出售劣質食物的責任同樣在於生產商，沃爾瑪指出中國的食物生產商彷彿不用負上責任。《華爾街日報》引述接近官方的消息人士指，沃爾瑪遭到針對，不是因為它是外資，純粹是因為它的規模較大，向它從嚴執法能起殺雞儆猴的作用。公仔箱論壇  ^/ ]9 R( e7 J, D  e
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根據中國的食物安全法，每一個食物處理工序的管事者，均須負上法律責任。然而，專家認為這條法例明顯得不到實際執行。《華爾街日報》走訪了數間食物生產商。例如，國營的食品公司光明食品代言人便指出，公司在數年來從未被罰款。因此，沃爾瑪並表達了進一步的不滿，指出公司添置了大量器材確保批發商的食物質素合乎標準。然而，這些工作，在世界上大部分地區，均是政府的責任，不應由他們獨自承受。
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食物問題自2008年的三聚氰胺奶粉事件起，便成為了讓不少中國市民擔心，甚至引起維權事件的重大社會問題。根據中國政府的官方調查，2013年有38%中國市民指食物安全問題十分嚴重，比率比2008年的12%，上升了不止兩倍。os.tvboxnow.com5 X" K/ N9 H  ~1 ?: v* d

由此看來，中國政府現時的策略，是試圖把監督責任「外判」及大型零售商，甚至有將食物安全責任推卸到外資之嫌。然而，倘若沃爾瑪的指控屬實，則中國政府始終不願針對根源處理食物安全問題。由此路進，類似孔雀石綠、三聚氰胺等的食物問題，恐怕依然會無日無之。TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。0 S& \- y8 i% A* e6 `6 V# H

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Wal-Mart Cries Foul on China Fines+ U- e. ~0 A, N! t. y

Company Says Safety Burden Unfairly Falls on Retailers, Rather Than Manufacturers
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Over the past three years, Chinese authorities have fined Wal-Mart StoresInc. WMT +0.55% $9.8 million,sanctioning the retailer for using misleading pricing, selling poor-quality products and even peddling donkey meat that turned out to be fox.
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Wal-Mart has increased testing and inspections. Food testers at Wal-Mart distribution centers in China check more than 600 products daily to catch flaws before the food is sent out to stores.After Wal-Mart found the fox meat labeled as donkey in January, the company said it would start testing its products' DNA.$ X% _1 G) L# T  J4 L' J
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But Wal-Mart is also doing something rare fora Western company: Telling Chinese authorities they need to clean up their own act. ( m7 ~" d' i- _8 z
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In the U.S. and most other countries, it is usually manufacturers, rather than retailers, that have primary responsibility for the quality of the products they sell, whether it is ketchup or dried beef. But in China, the manufacturers "aren't accountable. We're accountable," says Greg Foran, Wal-Mart's China chief.And while China's domestic companies are often criticized by local media forsubpar quality, regulators seldom call out local retailers for faulty products or food-safety problems.; Z. j4 F5 O* B. ]1 [

Analysts agree that Wal-Mart's cries of unfair treatment have some validity. "When the Chinese government wants to make a point on food safety, they go after a multinational rather than a Chinese company," says Christian Murck, former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. Other people say Chinese authorities and state media focus on foreign companies because their operations are often bigger, their names are better known and such an approach can help set an example.- b1 Q  A3 p* K+ ?$ z( l/ F# T

Wal-Mart executives have met in recent months with China's Food and Drug Administration,urging officials to step up their inspections of all food purveyors. They plan to meet again this month. The agency didn't respond to requests for comment.
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The Bentonville, Ark., company's pushback runs counter to what experts say is the safer strategy—keep your head low—for foreign companies in China: "It's not something you see often in China," says Ben Cavender, a senior analyst at consulting firm China Market Research Group. But Wal-Mart's combative approach may have an up side:"Wal-Mart is letting consumers know that there are other companies and players who should be involved in food safety, not just the retailer."
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Four local Chinese grocers said regulators don't frequently visit their stores or issue fines. State-controlled Bright Food (Group) Co., which operates 2,200 outlets of Shanghai Nong Gong Shang Supermarket, regularly inspects its fresh products and faces surprise food-safety checks on occasion, but in the past few years the chain hasn't been fined, a spokesman says. China's largest grocery retailer by number of stores, China Resources Enterprise Ltd. 0291.HK +0.21% , declined to comment.

Both the Chinese government and the food industry face rising pressure from the country's growing consumer class to clean up the food supply. In a survey last year of more than 3,200 Chinese people, 38% said food safety is a "very big problem," up from 12% in2008, according to Pew Research.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。8 {) v. I  R& n, Q; q: a' W: g6 o

Experts say the government has improved food safety since 2008, when six infants died and more than 300,000 fell ill because dairy producers added the industrial chemical melamine to watered-down milk.Last year the country created the China Food and Drug Administration, a super ministry that consolidated tasks previously handled by nine different bureaucracies into one. Officials have pushed agricultural consolidation as well, attempting to create bigger farm operations that mirror those in the U.S.and are easier to supervise.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。) R% S8 x. M' p1 S

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China's food-safety laws say responsibility and accountability should be shared at every step of the food chain. But experts say those laws aren't well enforced.

"There's an overemphasis at the point where the product meets the consumer," says Lester Ross, a Beijing-based attorney with U.S. law firm Wilmer Hale who has represented foreign food companies. "That's in part because it's easier to do," he adds.

Wal-Mart says it ended relationships with 300suppliers last year because they didn't pass the retailer's testing and safety standards, yet those suppliers had paperwork proving that they had passed muster with local food watchdogs. In the past two years, Wal-Mart has built up its ability to test products, adding DNA testing and food-safety trucks that can move to several stores in the course of a day, Mr. Foran says.

"But that isn't the way to resolve food safety," he says. "You resolve it by putting in place the right processes at the base. That is something the government should be held accountable for,as they are in most other countries."% i. l4 q" B& H- x

In the U.S., much of the responsibility for food safety is on the farms, as well as the plants that package the foods.Retailers are responsible for keeping food at appropriate temperatures and selling items before their expiration date.

Wal-Mart doesn't disclose what portion of its$476.29 billion in annual sales is generated in China. But 408 of the company's10,957 stores world-wide are located in the country.

In Shanghai, one of China's most affluent cities, the Municipal Food and Drug Administration says the government has increased testing and shares responsibility for food safety with retailers.Part of the problem is that enforcement is regional, says Gu Zhenhua, deputy director general of Shanghai's Food and Drug Administration.
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A number of foreign companies in China have increased testing in recent years.公仔箱論壇+ R7 `7 m' T6 j% R  D* J+ v6 o3 q) d
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British retailer Tesco TSCO.LN +2.33% PLC has implemented microbiological testing in China, checking some products up to four times to ensure they are safe.

In a space at their Shanghai headquarters that resembles an air-traffic control room, managers for French retailer Carrefour SA CA.FR +0.02% monitor refrigerator temperatures and supplier data at their 236 stores in China. They can see on monitors the government's product recalls; consumer complaints; store stocking data, including which products are in which stores; and supplier phone numbers to call should there be problems with any of the goods.
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In 2012 Chinese media said a Carrefour store in central Henan province had sold expired chicken and had mislabeled ordinary chicken as a more expensive organic variety. Carrefour responded by closing the store and apologized to consumers.

"Food safety in China is complicated,far more complicated than in other countries," says Loïc Frouart,Carrefour's Shanghai director of risk prevention.0 O8 i- }3 A  @

—Fanfan Wang contributed to this article.
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[時事討論] 美企沃爾瑪指中國官方「玩針對」 政府與生產商就食物安全齊卸責

[時事討論] 美企沃爾瑪指中國官方「玩針對」　政府與生產商就食物安全齊卸責