Expensive organic food
　　“I never buy organic vegetables at the supermarket,” said Annie Lee, a 38-year-old housewife living in Beijing, “They are too expensive.” Yes, the first impression of the organic food to average Chinese is very expensive. For example, the non-organic carrot costs about 5 yuan per kilo in Beijing; however, if it has an organic certification, it will be sold at 30 yuan per kilo. Generally, the retail price of the organic is between 2 to 10 times more expensive than non-organic. Why so expensive?
　　First, to plant organic plants costs a lot in itself. Cultivation should be done in the absence of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; it should also not be genetically modified and the soil needs to be clear of pollutants. Even the job of weeding needs human labor, which is more labor intensive than using chemicals.
　　Second, to have an official organic certificate costs a lot of money. A senior manager from a company that has obtained organic certificate said that it costs them about 50,000-60,000 yuan for each product they want registered.“For example, there are over 20 kinds of vegetable growing on our farm, such as cabbage, tomato, cucumber, pepper, etc. If we want to have all the products certified, it will cost us at least 1 million yuan for just one year validity. The process is too complicated, and the fee charges too high,” he said. Adding that the high overhead in regulatory fees has to be passed onto the consumer, it cannot be absorbed as a cost of doing business.
　　“For the first one or two years, the company will get the certificate of Conversion to Organic. After two harvest seasons, the company can receive Organic Products certificate. However, for the application next year, we have to audit everything from the beginning again, from documents to on-spot inspection to tests, which costs nearly the same as a new applier,” introduced by Manager Ma from China Organic Food Certification Center.
　　Third, the cost of getting on the shelf has to be added into the price as well. The logistic system and sales channels available to organic products are of higher standards and thus require more investment in rent, shelving fees, logistics etc.
　　The expensive price limits the growth of consumer group. Slow investment return is expected too. Although the concept of “organic” was introduced to China over 20 years ago, but the industry has been slow to develop. Reports say that the organic food industry in China only accounts for less than 0.1 percent of the entire food market. There are plenty of reports touting China’s organic boom, but growth from nothing to something always looks great on paper. It isn’t just the cost that drives consumers away from those high priced carrots; it is also a lack of trust.
　　 Difficult to trust
　　“I would rather buy these organic products for my baby girl,” said Jiang Lei, a Beijing mother of an 18-monthold girl. “Even though the organic vegetables are more expensive, I feel the chance that the quality is better than the non-organic is a safe bet. Anyway, the more expensive, the better quality, as the Chinese saying goes,” she said.
　　However, it is true “Higher price equals better quality”?
　　At the end of 2011, Focus Report, a famous program on China Central Television (CCTV), reported that the market was full of fake organic vegetables. Vegetables labeled organic that were sold in well-known supermarket were actually not organic. Pesticide and chemical fertilizer were used at the socalled “organic” farms that cultivated the fraudulent produce. The vegetables in question were tested and shown to have higher chemical levels even than the non-organic versions sold for a fraction of the price. Consumers were paying top yuan for poison produce. Are these expensive organics really safe to feed young toddlers?
　　Focus Report also stated that fake organic labels only costs 0.03 yuan($0.005) or less if buying in bulk from taobao’s website, which is China’s biggest online shopping destination. Also, some companies were reported to just buy an official organic certificate from an official organization, instead of going through the “hassle” of getting their growing base and supply chain audited. How can customers trust organics in China?
　　Expanding the organic market in China is difficult because it lacks consumer confidence. However, “many organic farmers in the UK provide their produce without pesticides, not to make extra money, but because they believe it is better for the environment now and the earth for future generations,” said Paul Ward, a British but had been living in China for over three years. “The organic registration process is easier in UK, with fewer checks as there is more honesty and trust there, and a powerful media to punish any offenders. The price difference is also much smaller.”he added. Building up trust is still the very first task for Chinese companies to accomplish.
　　“In the U.S. and other western countries if a product is marked organic, consumers will trust that it is and pay the extra money. However, many organic products being sold in the U.S.
　　are actually imported from China. Although this is not a new trend, it is news to most consumers. With food safety issues coming out of China on what seems a daily basis, it will be interesting to see how U.S. consumers react,” said Jeff Crowther, President of U.S.-China Health Products Association. “Because some well respected natural and organic retailers chose to save a few bucks by sourcing from China, it might cost them a bundle in the end.”Crowther expressed his concern.
　　 Where is the supervision?
　　
　　Why are there so many illegal or fake organic products in the market? Where are the government agencies and inspectors that should be conducting surveillance?
　　In 2005, China established the standard of China’s organic products with detailed regulations being released by the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA), which is the government department in charge of the organic industry. These rules composed the standards for the certification agencies to follow. Any organic certificate should be issued by a certification agency authorized by CNCA, as an independent third party.
　　According to CNCA, there are 23 organizations having the authority to award organic certificates. As China’s organic system is divided into a variety of segments such as plant, meat, marine product, and processed product, 17 of these organizations have the authority to award organic meat certificates, 15 of these can also award organic marine certificates, and all of them can award organic plant and processed products certificates.
　　The 23 authorized certification agencies are as follows.
　　1. China Quality Certification Center
　　2. China Quality Mark Certification Group
　　3. Guangdong Zhongjian Certifaction Co., Ltd.
　　4. Gainshine Assessment
　　5. WIT Assessment
　　6. ZhongAn Authentication Center
　　7. Zhongshihengxin Food Quality Certification Center
　　8. Heilongjiang Quality Certificate Center of Agricultural Products
　　9. China Organic Food Certification Center
　　10. China Environmental Certification Center
　　11. Zhong An Zhi Huan Certification Center
　　12. Beijing Continental Hengtong Certification Co., Ltd.
　　13. Fangyuan Organic Food Certification Center
　　14. Liaoning Environmental Organic Food Certification Center
　　15. Beijing WuYue HuaXia Management & Technique Center
　　16. Xinjiang Science and Research Institute of Environmental Protection
　　17. Certification Center of Northwest A&F University
　　18. Organic Food Development Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection
　　19. China Cooperative Quality Certification Center
　　20. Beijing Orient Jiahe Certification Co., Ltd.
　　21. Beijing ECOCERT Certification Center Co., Ltd.
　　22. IMO Control CN Co., Ltd.
　　23. CERES (Shanghai) Certification Co., Ltd.
　　However, it was reported by Southern Weekend newspaper that in two years over 200 organic products certificated by an authorized center were found not to meet the government standard. Another troubling point is that certificates expire after one year and the amount of re-registering companies seems to be lacking, which means there are a lot of products floating around using expired certificates.
　　The contradiction between market demands and small-scale supply of legal products has produced an opportunity for those individuals that operate in the gray areas of business. It’s not surprising to hear companies are using fake, infringing, expired, or overrun organic certifications. Since the above-mentioned agencies play the role of both third party certifier and supervisor, it is a stretch to call them true third party agencies.
　　Organic regulations clearly state that during the certification application process, the applying farm needs 1 to 3 years for soil turnover, but it was reported that some certification agencies released the organic certificate two months after the payment was received. Also follow up and supervision of these newly certified farms is lacking. There must be auditing done to ensure no pesticides or chemical fertilizers are being used but in many cases supervision hasn’t taken place, which is against the National Organic Product Certification Management Method. “Take the money, and Farewell” is what they do.
　　 New rules to follow
　　In wake of this lax and faulty system, China launched new Organic Products Certification Rules on March 1, 2012. One stipulation in the new regulations is that all companies, which previously received an organic certificate, should be re-evaluated to confirm compliance. If they pass, the company will receive the new organic certificate with a new code replacing the old one.
　　The transition period lasted till July 1, 2012. The Certification and Accreditation Administration issues a catalogue collecting all the organic certificates, which has been uploaded to the Chinese food-product certification system website food.cnca.cn, and now it is open to public for review.
　　If customers find fake organic products, there are three official ways to complain. #1. Complain to the certificate center; #2. Call 12365, and complain to local quality supervision bureau; #3. Call 010-82262671 to complain to Certification and Accreditation Administration of China.
　　Also, the government will establish an information tracing system for organic products. Will it be a brighter future for organic food industry in China? Still needs time to tell.
　　 Links: China’s food safety system
　　The China Ministry of Agriculture set up general standards and rules in 2003 for three levels of certificates for safe agriculture products, namely Non-polluted products, Green food products, and Organic products. Of which, the organic certificate is the most difficult to receive.
　　The most apparent difference between Organic food, Non-polluted food and Green food is that the Organic Products cannot have any man-made synthesized substance, such as pesticides, fertilizer, synthetic pigments, or hormones etc. For the Non-polluted and Green Foods certifications, those substances can be present. However, they must be controlled below certain levels. Green Food certifications are stricter than Non-polluted ones.
　　According to Chinese food-product certification system, there are 10,615 Organic Products certificates, 16,744 Green Food certificates, and 71,671 Non-polluted Products certificates in use as of March 31, 2012. Most of the Green Food certifications are issued by China Green Food Development Center, the official organization to conduct Green Food products assessment.