American red grapes, Thai durians, Vietnamese dragon fruits, Philippine bananas... Nowadays, there are more and more imported fruits with "foreign labels" in fruit shops and supermarkets in Yangzhou.

The prices of these imported fruits with "foreign labels" are much higher than those of domestic fruits of the same variety. However, their "identity proof" mostly relies on labels on the fruits or introductions by sales staff. Can this be used to determine that it is an authentic imported product? In the past few days, our reporters have interviewed fruit wholesale markets and major supermarkets.

Purchase channels

Yangzhou mostly gets its goods from Guangdong and Shanghai

In the fruit sections of several large supermarkets in the city, some fruits are brightly colored and some have different shapes. It's very special. Without looking at the name and place of origin on the shelf, I really wouldn't know what it is.

The reporter took a closer look and found that these are imported fruits, including American grapes, Thai durians, Vietnamese dragon fruits, Philippine bananas and more than a dozen varieties, all with English labels on them. For example, the Chilean plum plum label says "copefurt plum 4040 CHILE".

The label indicates the place of origin. Does it mean that these fruits were shipped from abroad? The reporter came to our city’s fruit wholesale market.

"Our imported fruits here are from Guangdong." At the Yalong Fruit Wholesale Market, Boss Chen of Yangzhou Runyang Green Fruits told reporters, "The imported fruits here in Yangzhou are relatively small in quantity." There are few, so those who do not enter the Yangzhou market directly from abroad, most of them come from Guangdong.”

Boss Zhang of Yicheng Fruits told reporters: “Our fruits are obtained from Shanghai, and some wholesalers are. From Guangdong. my country’s imported fruits mainly enter the country from these two cities, so Shanghai and Guangdong have become the gathering places for imported fruits, which are then sent to other places.”

The reporter visited again. We have established a supplier of imported fruits for large supermarkets in our city. Zheng Yousong, manager of Shenzhen Xinrongmao Co., Ltd., told reporters: "The company's imported fruits are mainly purchased from Thailand, New Zealand, Chile, and the United States. Since they are supplied to large supermarkets across the country, the demand is relatively high. When the market is big, we will get the goods directly from the origins of these countries; but if the market demand is small, we will get the goods directly from Guangdong.”

A staff member surnamed Guo from the import and export port of our city’s customs also told reporters. , currently no foreign fruits enter the market directly from our city, and there are no foreign fruits directly entering the customs in the entire Jiangsu Province; imported fruits mainly enter our country from Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian and other places, and then are sent to various cities across the country.

Identification

The wholesaler cannot provide the certificate of origin

"Is there any difference between these imported bananas and domestic ones? I think they are almost the same." He was in the supermarket. Ms. Li, a citizen buying bananas, asked the salesperson. The salesperson told her: "There are labels on them! These are from the Philippines. As for the difference between bananas from other places, we don't know."

The reporter found at the supermarket fruit counter that there were labels on them. The price of fruits with foreign labels is often much higher than the price of the same kind of fruits produced in China. For example, Philippine bananas are priced at 5.5 yuan/500g, domestic bananas are priced at 3.5 yuan/500g; U.S. lemons are priced at 13.99 yuan/500g, Sichuan lemons are priced at 6.5 yuan/500g; Chilean blackberries are priced at 23.5 yuan/500g. Liaoning Heibulin 14.99 yuan/500g. The price of imported fruits is generally about twice as high as that of domestic fruits.

A reporter from a supermarket saw three different labels on the same imported banana. The salesperson told reporters that these bananas are from the Philippines, but the reporter only saw "product of the Philippines" on one trademark, indicating that they are products from the Philippines. The other two trademarks did not indicate the origin of the Philippines.

In appearance, some domestic fruits are almost the same as imported fruits.

So, will domestic fruits change their appearance after being labeled with foreign labels and be sold in our city as imported fruits?

The reporter discovered a phenomenon at the Yalong Fruit Wholesale Market: some freshly picked up from the truck There are no labels on the imported fruits that are transported. When the reporter asked about the labels of these fruits, the wholesaler told the reporter that the labels were provided by the wholesaler at the upper level and had been affixed when shipped. However, the labels of some fruits fell off midway and could be replaced.

During the interview, when the reporter asked if there was a certificate of origin for selling imported fruits, Boss Chen of Runyang Green Boutique Fruit Development Center said that they did not have a similar certificate of origin. The certificates of origin of these fruits were only provided by the upper-level wholesaler when they purchased them, but they only saw copies and not the originals.

The industry admitted frankly

There are indeed domestic fruits pretending to be imported

Zheng Yousong, who has many years of experience in operating imported fruits, admitted frankly that some fruits are indeed not imported from abroad. It's domestic. Now, the quality of some fruits in our country has reached the quality of foreign fruits, and some are even better than foreign fruits. For example, some domestic oranges are often sold with the "American Sunkist" logo; some domestic bananas are sold as Philippine bananas; most of the New Zealand kiwis currently sold on the market are actually domestically produced, but they are labeled After getting the foreign label, the original sales by weight changed to sales by piece.

my country's "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Inspection and Quarantine of Entry Fruit" clearly stipulates that before signing an entry fruit trade contract or agreement, one must apply to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine for entry fruit quarantine approval in accordance with relevant regulations. Complete the formalities and obtain the "People's Republic of China Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit"; if the goods pass the inspection and quarantine, an entry cargo inspection and quarantine certificate will be issued and released.

Zheng Yousong told reporters that these fruit wholesalers in Yangzhou are second- and third-level fruit wholesalers. It is impossible to apply for a certificate of origin of the fruit’s origin. They can only be obtained by the upper-level fruit wholesalers. Photocopies are provided; original documents cannot be obtained for imported fruits, and most of them are photocopied documents provided by first-level wholesalers. This provides wholesalers with room for counterfeiting; after some varieties introduced from abroad are successfully grown in China, it is difficult to distinguish them from foreign fruits, and many of them are directly pasted with English labels to pass them off.

Departmental Voices

Difficulties in regulating the imported fruit market

The reporter confirmed from Gao Minghong, Director of the Consumer Protection Division of the Yangzhou Industrial and Commercial Bureau, that there is a mixed bag of imported fruits in our city’s market. phenomenon, there are difficulties in supervision.

First, it is difficult to standardize and trace the source. Many fruits imported from the United States, Southeast Asia and other places in our country are mainly concentrated in first-level wholesale markets such as Shanghai and Guangdong, and then shipped to all parts of the country. Fruit wholesale in our city has passed several checkpoints, and wholesalers belong to the second and third levels. Grade fruit wholesaler. Problems with imported fruits often come from first-level fruit wholesalers, and it is not clear which ones are imported and which ones are domestically produced. This leads to chaos in the offline imported fruit market.

Second, it is difficult to obtain evidence. Fruit products are fresh agricultural products, and forensic inspection takes a certain amount of time, but they cannot be detained without evidence. If there is no problem in the final inspection, the loss to the merchant will be immeasurable.