Export of agricultural products: why price advantage fails to become competitive power

Introduction: Nanning, Xinhuanet, June 20, Before China's accession to the WTO, many insiders analyzed that China's labor-intensive agricultural products have a strong comparative advantage in terms of price; however, the reporter recently found in Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other major coastal provinces of agricultural products export that many comparative advantage industries are frequently subject to the "green" barriers of major importing countries, and the export situation of agricultural products is not optimistic After China's accession to the WTO, many export business owners who are determined to work hard have been caught unprepared by the relentless "green" barriers of developed countries, and the export volume of many enterprises has even declined sharply Shandong Anqiu Yihe food company exported nearly 2000 tons of vegetables last year In the first three months of this year, the company's products didn't go out by a Jin Weifang is one of the main bases for poultry meat export in China Last year, the city exported 85000 tons of poultry meat, earning 170 million US dollars in foreign exchange In the first two months of this year, the city exported only 9000 tons of poultry meat, of which only 2300 tons were frozen chicken, a year-on-year decrease of 5000 tons, and the amount of foreign exchange earned decreased by 7.6 million US dollars compared with the same period last year "China's current export situation of agricultural products is more severe than expected." Yan Zhaowan, deputy director of Shandong foreign trade department, told reporters Shandong is the largest province of agricultural products export in China, and the export of labor-intensive products such as aquatic products, vegetables, poultry and meat has been the first in China for many years In January this year, the European Union stopped the import of animal derived food in China, which directly affected the export of Shandong Province to earn 300 million US dollars, leaving a backlog of 2500 tons of rabbit meat in the province Chen Zhicheng, deputy director of the foreign trade management office of the Department of foreign trade of Zhejiang Province, said that Zhejiang's export of animal derived food, mainly aquatic products and honey, has always occupied a large share in the country However, affected by "green barriers", the province reduced its export earnings by $100 million in the first quarter of this year alone According to the interview, after China's accession to the WTO, although the door for China's agricultural products to enter the international market has been opened, the threshold has not been lowered, and the restrictive effect of non-tariff trade barriers is more obvious In many countries, the inspection of agricultural products in China has not only changed from sampling inspection to batch inspection, but also improved the inspection standards For example, in South Korea, there is only one pesticide residue in the inspection of vegetables exported to China, and the highest inspection index is more than 200 Before China's entry into WTO, the fundamental factor determining the international competitiveness of agricultural products is not the price The insiders generally analyzed it from the perspective of cost China's national conditions are that there are more people and less land, and resource intensive agricultural products such as wheat and corn are facing great impact, while labor-intensive agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits, livestock and poultry, and aquatic products have comparative advantages in price and great opportunities However, the endless technical barriers after China's accession to the WTO show that this judgment is not comprehensive Ma Jintao, deputy mayor of Shouguang City, said: "the advantages of low labor cost of agricultural products in China are offset by the disadvantages of small scale, poor technology and low quality." Yang luyong, deputy director of Foreign Cooperation Department of Shandong Provincial Department of agriculture, said that although foreign "green" barriers have trade protection factors, the quality of our agricultural products is indeed not strong Many agricultural products are lack of quality standards Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are forbidden in the large-scale use of vegetables Various drugs are often fed to produce aquatic products Many broilers are destroyed by additives and drugs They are only stopped before they go out of the market Many chickens are listless and can't stand up after stopping the drugs With the improvement of testing standards and methods in importing countries, these products with poor quality have come into being Anqiu City, Shandong Province, is one of the important vegetable export bases in China However, due to the lack of effective measures to restrict the production process of farmers, the export products often encounter "red light" recently Not long ago, 19 kinds of agricultural products in this city were detected to be over standard by the Japanese side; there are more than 100 vegetable processing enterprises in Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, and most of the export products are pickled and sauced vegetables However, when the relevant departments conducted quality inspection on the export products, they found that only 3 enterprises' products meet the quality requirements of the importing country "The fundamental factor determining the international competitiveness of agricultural products is not price, but quality." Yu Jingzhong, deputy director of the Standing Committee of Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress, said, "after China's accession to the WTO, the biggest challenge for China's agriculture is the quality of agricultural products If the quality is not improved, the price advantage of China's labor-intensive agricultural products will hardly become a competitive advantage." It is a systematic project to implement the strategy of agricultural standardization and adjust the structure of export products Yang luyong suggested that the state should formulate the food safety and quality law as soon as possible, and focus on the construction of three systems, namely, the quality standard system of agricultural products, the quality inspection system of agricultural products and the quality certification system of agricultural products At present, under the leadership of governments at all levels, a standardized construction called "another revolution of agriculture in China" is booming in the eastern coastal agricultural products export provinces Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, which exports 70% of agricultural products, takes promoting agricultural standardization as an important means to seize the commanding point of the international market The city has formulated more than 160 production technology and quality standards for agricultural products, 36 agricultural products have obtained the right to use the national green mark, and 10 leading enterprises have passed the ISO9000 international series certification, becoming the main force of agricultural export earnings Haiteng company and Baolong Group in this city have adopted various forms to standardize the processing technology and mechanical equipment Last year, they passed the EU quality certification and entered the EU market as inspection free products Their annual self export volume reached 30 million US dollars, accounting for 70% of Jiangsu lobster export Many coastal areas focus on enhancing the international competitiveness of China's agricultural products and actively adjust the structure of export products Some enterprises in Hangzhou specialize in developing agricultural products that have nothing to do with food safety For example, for processing down products, the export volume last year reached 3.4 billion yuan, accounting for half of the national export volume; Xiaoshan Dazhuang flooring factory is the largest bamboo product manufacturer in China, and the product supply in Southeast Asia is in short supply Some places take measures such as labor export, technology transfer and overseas investment to bypass technical barriers and indirectly expand the export of agricultural products.