China’s seafood processors may face an existential threat from a new push by government to raise the standards of food sold for the domestic market to the same as those in place for the export market.
It costs on average 50 percent more to produce goods to specifications for export markets as it does for the domestic Chinese market, according to a study by the China Certification and Accreditation Administration, which is one of the bodies behind the push. That means that processors manufacturing for the domestic market will have to up their game, or give way to processors which are already exporting.
As part of the campaign to get food companies to change, a slogan has appeared across Chinese state media and across wholesale food markets as well as supermarket labelling this year: ‘Tong Xian Tong Biao Tong Zhi’ (‘same channels, same certification, same quality’).
A clear-out of low-end processors would clearly make some space for Chinese seafood exporters, which have been trying to hedge their bets by tapping rising Chinese spending power. The scale of the challenge is obvious, with AQSIQ reporting it handled USD 44 billion (EUR 37 billion) in imports last year. Given that China exported USD 50 billion (EUR 42 billion) in foodstuffs, there is much at stake as exporters increasingly look for sales in the growing domestic market.
