China Law Blog

We are always writing on how China has strong laws on just about everything, but such laws are often not enforced.  Until they are.

We are also always saying that just because you see Chinese businesses ignoring a particular Chinese law does not mean you, as a foreign business, will be able to get away with the same.  In other words, foreign businesses in China must hold themselves to a higher standard than Chinese businesses and they must seek scrupulously to obey China's laws. 

More evidence on this has been coming down this week as China has begun blocking Western food imports that do not comply with Chinese sanitary standards.  An Associated Press (AP) story on MSNBC.com, entitled, "China rejects U.S. imports, citing sanitary code: Officials say ants, contaminants found in shipments, but motives questioned," details the most recent events: 

China said Saturday [June 9] it had rejected a shipment of pistachios from the United States because it contained ants, the latest indication the government may be retaliating as Chinese products are turned back from overseas because of safety concerns.

The state television report, which showed inspectors wearing face masks and sealing the shipping container that held the pistachios, indicated an increasing push to show that other countries also have food safety issues. On Friday, Chinese food safety watchdog announced that shipments of health supplements and raisins from the U.S. had been returned or destroyed because they did not meet quality control standards.

Chinese television news is reporting the U.S. safety certificates for the pistachios had been issued to Cal-Pure Pistachios Inc., based near Bakersfield, Calif. 

The article then asks whether this seizure is "tit-for-tat," in light of the various food and drug scandals in the United States involving Chinese goods, and answers its question with a "don't know:"

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration official said Friday that the U.S. is seeking more information on the latest cases of American products being turned away.

'Whatever the motives are for this, if it's real, we want to know about it,' said David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food protection at the FDA.

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'Is it tit-for-tat? We don't know and probably won't ever know,' Acheson said. 'If they found a legitimate problem with a product exported from the United States, we would want to know about it so we can look into it and fix it.'

The article then notes that "Chinese regulators have urged local authorities to step up inspections of imported food products and said Chinese importers should 'clarify food safety demands in contracts when importing U.S. food products, so as to lower the trade risk,'" which sounds very much like some of the advice we recently gave to foreign companies in our post, "How To Protect Your Company From Bad China Product."

For more on what foreign businesses must do to stay in China's good graces, check out these previous posts:

• "The Painted Veil on Chinese Law"
• "URGENT ALERT: Register Your Company In China NOW, Part II"
• "China Taxes: Serious Now And Getting Seriouser