CRI听力:Is Buying Organic Food Stupid in China?

At supermarkets in Hangzhou, some locals are looking at the organic vegetable labels, wondering whether to purchase or not. Many of them say they've found these labels are quite different from one and another, and it's hard to tell which is authentic.

"I don't know what the difference is. The organic vegetables are just much more expensive than ordinary ones to me. And it seems that every kind of organic food has a different verification label, which is quite confusing. I really doubt they are worth the high prices."

With an organic food label, vegetables can be sold at prices several times higher than ordinary ones. For example, cucumbers with such labels are priced at 20 yuan per kilogram, while ordinary cucumbers cost only five yuan per kilo.

Recently, a hot thread online about 'the ten most stupid things to do in 2011' has drawn the attention of netizens. Buying organic food at supermarkets has been listed with other things like going traveling during the crowded week-long holiday.

The reason is quite simple: the whole process of issuing organic food labels from the current 26 legal institutions in China is highly questionable. They've got different testing procedures; provide different labels and sometimes, the process of issuing the organic food labels is quite suspicious. For example, many consultant companies online claim that they have direct contact with those institutions, and by using their services, the applicants can get their certification approved much more easily. Here are some representative calls from these companies.

"We are agents called Wuzhou Hengtong. We introduce more customers in this region to the institutions that issue the certificates, so they also give us more conveniences."

"If you apply for certification directly from the institutions, it's difficult. But we can dodge lots of problems and successfully get through the annual audit."

The national standards for organic food certification require a transformation period of at least 24 months for fields where common grain is grown to be turned into ones suitable for producing organic food. After the transition period, farmers must wait yet another year to get a certificate.

But one qualified national institution located in Hangzhou indicates that it only requires three months to get all the procedures done if applicants pay an additional 20-thousand to 30-thousand yuan.

The national standards also require that all fields growing organic produce be tested for existing pesticides and chemical fertilizers. But a representative from one of the agencies says his company can change the test results to help applicants get a certificate.

"The departments that issue the certificate won't pay attention to the data on the test report. They also want to make profit out of it. We are their agents, so we are partners with benefits."

In China, the Organic Food Administrative Regulations of 2005 provide the only standards for the organic agricultural industry, which still lacks a consistent system to monitor the entire market, including the phases of production, distribution and sale of organic vegetables.

Now the central government is taking steps to supervise the use and issuing of organic label.

It will establish a nationwide data base on all authentically labeled organic produce. Verification institutions who violate related regulation will face suspension of their qualifications.

Hopefully, buying organic food at supermarkets in China will one day be considered a smart thing to do.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.