Dairy Imports From China

Several recent stories have appeared regarding China's closing of dairy plants.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9MBDDKG2.htm

Government regulators say nearly half of all dairies in China are being denied new licenses and shut down after failing inspections to clean up the scandal-plagued dairy industry.

The quality inspection agency said Saturday that 533 of the country's 1,176 dairy producers have been ordered to cease operations. The agency says some 107 of them will have a chance to apply anew for licenses once they improve their quality controls.

(more at link)

Some think we do not import dairy proteins from China, which is not true. While we may not import HTS Chapter 04 dairy proteins from China, we do import varying amounts of chapter 35 dairy proteins from China. In January of this year we imported 95 metric tons. Who can say where it went?

China & Milk - Again

In recent years, when I have spoken with people from China about food, the word greed always pops up. Here is the latest from the government of China:

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2011-02/19/content_21957557.htm

Watchdog orders closer checks of dairy products

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine ordered its local branches on Friday to increase their scrutiny of fresh milk in response to public concerns.

The administration said in a statement posted on its website that it had paid closer attention to the quality of dairy products and increased the frequency of food inspections following a 2008 scandal in which the poisonous substance melamine was found in infant formula.

Since 2009, the administration has placed both melamine and hydrolyzed leather protein - substances that could make food appear to have a higher protein content - on a list of banned additives that must be tested for in fresh milk.

Later that year, the administration punished a company in Zhejiang province after finding the company had added hydrolyzed leather protein to its dairy products.

Even with those achievements suggesting the government has got closer to its goal, Friday's statement indicated that the supervision of fresh milk will be further strengthened in the future.

Li Yuanping, a spokesperson for the administration, said anyone who has concerns about the quality of a food product should call the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on the hotline number 12365.

The statement came a day after China's Ministry of Agriculture said that fresh milk on the Chinese market is "generally safe" and that no hydrolyzed leather protein or other prohibited materials had been detected in recent tests of that product.

In 2008, milk powder tainted by melamine killed at least six infants and sickened 300,000 children across the country.

Melamine and hydrolyzed leather protein are used as additives because they can make dairy products that have been watered down appear to contain normal amounts of protein.

In a notice posted to the website of the State Council, China's Cabinet, the Ministry of Agriculture said authorities will carry out 6,450 random checks of fresh milk this year - underscoring officials' concerns that dairy producers may still be trying to use illegal and dangerous methods to boost the protein content of milk.

All of the tests will be checks for melamine and 30 percent will be attempts to detect hydrolyzed leather protein.

The agriculture ministry said in a statement posted to its website on Thursday that spot checks performed on 7,406 batches of fresh milk last year yielded no evidence indicating the presence of melamine and signs of leather protein.

The main source of melamine contamination has been powdered milk, rather than the fresh variety. Last year, China seized 2,132 tons of melamine-tainted milk powder, all of it having been manufactured in 2008 or earlier.

China's Food Crisis

Exports of U.S. dairy products are way up. china has increased imports to dairy products from the U.S. by nearly 48%. This has not really helped the U.S. dairy farmers financially. Meanwhile, much of the rise in feed costs can be attributed to corn and soy exports to China.

China has some worries: http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/11/26/china%E2%80%99s-inflationary-food-fight/

There have been riots, small riots in China over food prices. The Chinese government can always call out the army but, the stability of the government depends upon the people prospering. Things look worrisome.

When the world financial crisis hit, the American dairy farmer took a hit. This was because, those in power could take it out of the farmers hide. Meanwhile, there has been no change in dairy pricing policy. As the clock ticks, what looks like the future is NMPF plan to essentially maintain the status quo. Too bad!

Exports of Dairy to China

I saw a figure recently on dairy exports to China, which were up considerably. However, I have no idea whether or not that figure constitutes all the dairy exports to China or just one country.

Our dairy exports to China January - July increased 48%. Of course, even the USA is not too concerned about the accuracy of exports (no duty to collect).

But, here is what you get looking at official sites in China: http://www.chinacustomsstat.com/

Good luck. I can tell you the data is only through April. I'll keep working on it though. I am very curious what percent of the dairy imported into China comes from the U.S.

More Melamine

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-07/13/c_13398205.htm

Here we go again. Yes, we do continue to import caseins from China,
324,076 pounds Jan through May 2010.

New Zealand sees this as an opportunity to export more product to China.

Here is the story:

Official pledges stricter actions against melamine-tainted milk products
English.news.cn 2010-07-13 20:03:15

BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities must step up efforts to trace hidden melamine-tainted milk products that should have been destroyed, in the wake of large batches of contaminated products turning up this month in two provinces, a Health Ministry official said Tuesday.

"From the problematic milk powder found in Qinghai, we can see that we need to do more in this work," Chen Rui, a vice director with the Ministry of Health's food safety department, told a press conference.

Food safety incidents must be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators must be severely punished, he said.

Melamine added to milk products can make the protein content seem higher. In the melamine scandal of 2008, the industrial chemical caused the deaths of six babies and sickened 300,000 others who had been fed with baby formula made from tainted milk.

China's government has repeatedly ordered all tainted products to be destroyed, but reports of tainted items have continued to emerge.

In the latest discovery, Chinese police authorities found 64 tons of raw materials for making milk powder and 12 tons of processed powder tainted with melamine at a factory in the far-western province of Qinghai.

Some packages of milk formula also tested positive for excessive melamine content in northeast China's Jilin Province. The tainted products were among 900 kg of milk formula that were found to be produced by a plant with suspected falsified production licenses.

Chen said about 25,000 tons of melamine-tainted dairy products had been destroyed since 2008.

He said authorities were still investigating the Qinghai case, and promised to publish progress in the investigation in a timely manner.