" I heard it through the AgLine"

October 11, 2007

 

 

·        Japan taking US to school on food safety

·        Monsanto shares dip on lower ’08 forecast

·        USDA to issue weekly fruit, veg market report

·        Fire ants threaten organic farms in Hawaii

·        Vietnamese growers hooked on the Internet

 

 

 

Japan taking US to school on food safety

(The New York Times) TOKYO  — With Americans growing increasingly concerned about the safety of Chinese products, Washington has begun looking for solutions in Japan.

The Japanese have developed tough approaches for ensuring the quality of Chinese imports, particularly food — in part by far more rigorous testing of its imported food than in the United States. But the innovation getting the most American attention is Japan’s system for screening Chinese producers even before they ship their merchandise to Japan.

A report released last week by the House Energy and Commerce Committee cited Japan’s system for monitoring spinach and other Chinese food exports as a possible model for importers in the United States. Last month, a White House working group issued its own report after visiting Tokyo, and even Chinese officials have urged the United States to adopt the Japanese approach.

Citing the Food and Drug Administration, the House report described Japan’s model as the most realistic one for protecting American consumers. “The Japanese system of regulating Chinese food imports does appear to offer better control than that currently used by F.D.A.,” it concluded.

The program is the product of Japan’s longer experience with Chinese safety problems, going back to the discovery five years ago of high levels of pesticide in Chinese frozen spinach. Americans have become more conscious of such safety issues this year, with the highly publicized recalls of Chinese-made toys contaminated with lead paint and pet food ingredients containing hazardous chemicals.

“Japan is five years ahead of the rest of the world in dealing with quality problems from China,” said Tatsuya Kakita, the author of several books here on food safety. “The world can learn from Japan.”

Japan, which buys far more of its food from China than the United States does, has focused its efforts so far on food safety. But some Japanese and American officials and safety experts say that similar methods may also work for many Chinese exports to the United States, not only seafood and processed vegetables but also products like medicine, toys and paint.

It is rare for American officials to praise Japanese import controls. Washington more often criticizes Japan’s regulations as draconian, especially when applied to American products. Indeed, one of the top trade disputes in recent years between the two countries has been over Japanese limits on American beef imports, after the discovery in 2003 of a case of mad cow disease in the United States.

Food safety is a particularly delicate issue in Japan, which imports 60 percent of its food supply. After the problems with Chinese-grown spinach created an uproar here in 2002, the government stepped up random testing of all imported food. The Japanese health ministry says it and private laboratories now test samples from about 10 percent of all food shipments entering the country.

By contrast, the United States, which imports about a tenth of its food, tests less than 1 percent of shipments, according to the House report.

Many of Japan’s stringent tests take place at two national inspection centers. On a recent morning at the center in the port of Yokohama, agents in white lab coats examined more than 100 samples — grinding up lemons, asparagus and even turtle meat in large industrial blenders to test them for banned pesticides, antibiotics and other chemicals. The Yokohama center alone tested more than 30,000 samples last year, about three times what the United States tested.

“We are the front line in protecting consumers,” said Yukihiro Shiomi, an inspector at the center.

The health ministry says Japan tested 203,001 samples of food last year and found 1,515 samples that violated standards. The largest number of violations, a third, came from China, which supplies about 15 percent of Japan’s food imports.

While there have been calls in Washington for stepped-up testing, there is also notable interest in Japan’s new system for screening Chinese producers.

Introduced last year, the system is used only for spinach. But the program has been so successful in eliminating quality problems that Tokyo plans to expand it to other types of food imports, said Kazuhiko Tsurumi, deputy director of the health ministry’s import food safety office.

“The lesson from our success with improving the safety of spinach is that direct control of producers is the best method for quality control,” he said.

Under the system, a number of Chinese companies receive licenses from the government there allowing them to export to Japan on the condition that they maintain Japanese standards. Currently, 45 Chinese companies are licensed to produce spinach for sale in Japan. The Chinese producers must grow all their spinach on their own plots and not buy any from other producers. This greatly reduces the chance of dangerous pesticides getting into shipments, Japanese officials say.

While China has licensed exporters before, this system is more stringent, Japanese and American officials say, in part because the health ministry helps to enforce it by allowing in products only from licensed companies. By contrast, the United States, with its free-market approach, allows importers to disregard China’s licensing system.

Japanese officials acknowledge that their system limits competition, allowing Chinese producers to charge the Japanese consumer higher prices. But they say that this profit incentive also keeps the Chinese companies adhering to Japanese standards — lest they lose their licenses. Tokyo also requires Japanese importers to test every shipment of spinach for banned pesticides and other chemicals.

The mandatory testing adds about $160 in costs to each shipment, the health ministry says. Spinach now costs about $4 a pound in suburban Tokyo, two to two and a half times what an American might pay, though most of that difference results from other factors, like Japan’s archaic distribution system.

But the Japanese say that the controls solve a big challenge in importing from China: weeding out unscrupulous producers, without hurting China’s many conscientious ones.

Yet, at a Summit supermarket in the Tokyo suburb of Mitaka, such steps have done little to alleviate fears of Chinese quality problems, which have received intense media coverage here.

Sales of Chinese-grown produce are a tenth of what they were just five years ago, as consumers embrace pricier Japanese products. The sense of security in domestic fruit and vegetables is enhanced by the store’s practice of posting the names, addresses and even photos of local farmers who grow the produce.

“I prefer the farmers’ faces,” said Yumiko Ishihara, a 38-year-old homemaker. “Buying Chinese is like gambling with my family’s health.”

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Monsanto shares dip on lower ’08 forecast

 

(JournalStar.com) – A day after announcing its plans for a new corn seed-processing plant in Nebraska, Monsanto Co. posted an expected loss for its fiscal fourth quarter, but surprised the stock market with a lower outlook for earnings than expected in the 2008 fiscal year.

Monsanto’s 2007 fiscal year results showed the company’s corn seed and genetic traits business expanded by half. 

Management reported 2008 expectations at $2.20 to $2.40 per share, down from the $2.47 consensus market analysts had estimated.

Andrew White of TheStreet.com called the down “curious,” given the quarter's seeds and genomics sales shot up  more than 40 percent, and corn sales up 72 percent.

Monsanto reported a quarterly loss of $210 million, or 39 cents per share, versus a loss of $144 million, or 27 cents per share, in the prior year, a seasonal loss trend.   Excluding special items, the loss was 18 cents per share, a penny more than estimated.

Quarterly net sales rose nearly 13 percent to a record  $1.57 billion from $1.39 billion in the prior-year period.

For the fiscal year, Monsanto reported record sales of $8.6 billion and a profit of $1.79 per share, up from $1.25 a year ago.

Corn seed sales were $2.8 billion, up more than $1 billion for the fiscal year. 

These results were partially offset by lower revenues from the company's soybean seed and trait business as farmers reduced the number of acres planted in favor of corn.

Monsanto attributed the sales increase to the strong corn seed and traits season in the United States as well as higher sales of corn seed in Argentina and Brazil.

Its shares fell slightly, but it traded near its 52-week peak of $90.45 earlier in the session.

Monsanto chairman and chief executive officer Hugh Grant said the year was a benchmark for the company as more of the world’s farmers purchased Monsanto products.

Grant said Monsanto realized record sales for a fourth consecutive year. It also made several strategic acquisitions and approved its largest dividend increase ever.

Earlier this week, Monsanto announced plans to invest $155 million in Nebraska. The bulk of the money will be spent to build a processing plant 40 miles west of Lincoln. The rest will be used to upgrade a similar plant at Kearney. The two projects will double the company's seed corn production in the state.

The new plant will be between Utica and Waco and on the York side of the Seward-York county line.

 

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USDA to issue weekly fruit, veg market report

 

(USDA-AMS) – The Fruit and Vegetable Market News Service of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will launch a new report each Friday. It will feature weekly advertised retail activity and prices on the most commonly consumed fresh fruits and vegetables, including several organic items.

Every day, AMS Market News will survey more than 200 retailers’ Web sites covering roughly 17,000 individual stores across the United States. AMS will report weighted average retail prices at both regional and national levels. In addition, AMS will provide a narrative summary and graphs giving an overview of the weekly retail activity.

This report will enhance the already extensive market information provided by Market News, adding retail market coverage to wholesale and shipping point market coverage. Customers will have a more complete picture of the nation’s fruit and vegetable markets. AMS also reports retail markets on other commodities such as meat, poultry and eggs.

 

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Fire ants threaten organic farms in Hawaii

 

(Hawaii Health Guide.com) – The Little Fire Ant (LFA) was one of the pests discussed among farmers at the recent Hawaii Food Summit. The Fire Ant may be small, (an entire colony can live under a mac nut shell), but the bite packs a big punch, and infestations are disrupting harvests and agriculural practices on Hawaii's West side.

The insects cause harm to animals, pets and livestock with a strong sting and can cause blindness.

Some orchard workers in East Hawaii have refused to work in areas of infestation as the ants climb up plants and trees, and drop off when disturbed by pruning, picking flowers, or harvesting fruit.

The Little Fire Ant is native to South and Central America but has spread around the pacific through infested nursery stock. The ants are tiny, but the bite packs a sting. In the Galapagos Islands, where LFA populations are large, the coffee harvests are halted to protect workers.

Efforts to suppress and irradicate the invasive insects are intensive and involve consistent applications of bait containing pesticides such as hydramethylnon (Seige Pro, Amdro Pro). Organic Farmers who have undergone extensive work to have organic crops and certification are at risk for losing years of effort if this ant is found.

Hydamethylnon is also highly toxic to fish highly acutely toxic, cholinesterase inhibitor, known/probable carcinogen, known groundwater pollutant or known reproductive or developmental toxicant.

A heavy infestation can make a property difficult to use commercially or enjoy recreationally. Gloves, boots and full body covering are needed in severely infested areas where any contact with foilage including lawns can invite a sting. An LFA infestation is a "disclosure issue" in property sales.

The little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, is a relatively new pest to Hawaii and is known to be in at least one area on Kauai and in 50 locations in East Hawaii from Laupahoehoe to Kalapana. The highest elevation it has been found at is 1,500 feet, in Mountain View. It is likely that it is elsewhere, but undetected, on our island. More eyes are needed to spot this tiny creature, report the location and work to control it.

These stinging ants can be a serious nuisance. Initially their sting hurts and burns intensely. It can also cause severe itching lasting for two or more weeks. The stings are known to hurt pets and livestock and multiple stings to the eyes can cause blindness in animals. No serious injuries to people have been reported.

Similar to many other ants, the little fire ant tends honeydew-secreting insects such as scale, aphids and mealybugs. The workers also feed on dead insects, spiders, millipedes and the like, and are probably predacious on many insects.

Little fire ants are reddish-orange and very small, only 1/16-inch long; that's about the thickness of a penny. The workers are all the same size, unlike some other ant species that have some workers with larger heads. Another distinguishing characteristic of these ants is that they are slow moving.

This ant should not be confused with another stinging red ant common in Hawaii, the tropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata, commonly called "red ant." It is 1/8 to 1/4 inch long, more than twice the size of the little fire ant. Yet another fire ant, the much more aggressive, imported red fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, has never been found in the state.

Little fire ants are often spread by transport of potted plants, plant materials or rubbish. People also move them around when the ants get into their clothes. Be cautious when moving plant material from the east side of Hawaii island. Check the plant thoroughly, including the root ball.

You can use a simple detection device, a peanut butter coated chopstick, to determine if this ant is in your area or in a potted plant. Here is the procedure: Smear a thin coat (a thin coat works better than a thick coat) of peanut butter on one end of some wooden chopsticks or popsicle sticks. Put the sticks around your property, preferably in the shade, in potted plants and at the bases of trees and shrubs. After about one hour, carefully pick up any sticks that have ants on them and put the sticks in a sealable plastic bag.

Examine the ants; if they are red-orange, 1/16 of an inch or shorter, slow-moving, and if they fall off the stick easily when you tap the side of it, they might be the little fire ant and should be examined by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.

Seal the bag, write your name, physical address and phone number on it, and put the bag in the freezer overnight to kill the ants (do not transport live ants). Drop off the bag at the HDOA in Captain Cook (next to the police station) or Hilo (16 E. Lanikaula St.) for identification.

If the ants are identified as little fire ant by HDOA and you live in West Hawaii, an appointment will be made with you to assess the infestation and to discuss control measures. Do not treat a suspected infestation of little fire ants with pesticides until it has been reported and mapped, or the extent of the infestation in your yard (or neighborhood) will not be known.

Little fire ants are relatively easy to suppress in small areas but can be very difficult to eradicate completely, which requires consistent applications of bait.

 

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Vietnamese growers hooked on the Internet

(VNS) Ha Noi — Now just a click away, rural Vietnamese farmers can get all the information they need to thrive thanks to the internet.

Over the last three months, Nguyen Thi Hong, head of Doan Ket village, Dong Tho Commune in the northern province of Thai Binh, has been a regular visitor to the commune’s new information centre, which now has four computers hooked up to the internet.

She uses the net to get information about livestock breeding, the latest cultivation techniques and new crop varieties.

"The internet is a great tool for learning. We now have access to all the information we need as farmers. It was invaluable during the bird flu outbreak."

Ha Van Linh, director of Dong Tho Information Centre, said: "Hundreds of farmers come to the centre to find ways to increase production. With 1,400 households and 4,300 people, the demand for information in the commune is increasing rapidly."

Pham Van Vuong, a farmer in Quang Trung, said: "My family has seven sao (1 sao equals 360sqm) and 10 pigs. In the past, I spent a great deal of time finding the livestock information I needed from books and newspapers. Now, it is very simple. Virtually all the information I need is available at the commune’s information centre."

Ha Xuan Hung, Secretary of the Dong Tho Communal Party Committee, is committed to supporting the centre’s upkeep once funding from the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development dries up.

"There is a great demand for information about seedlings and breeding of animals in the community."

Nguyen Van Ly, Chairman of the Dai Bai Communal People’s Committee, Gia Binh District, Ha Bac Province, said: "Most people in my commune work casting bronze. Many now go to the information centre to find out about market prices."

An information bank

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has implemented a three-year pilot project to set up information centres in 13 communes in 10 provinces. It has a budget of $500,000 from the United Nations Development Programme.

Ministry chief and project director Bach Quoc Khang said: "Over the last six months about 3,600 people have used the centres."

Khang said the 13 centres would be linked electronically and an agricultural information data base would be set up before the end of next year.

However, Khang said searching for information on the Internet was still posing problems.

"Under the project we intend to organise computer classes so farmers can get the most from the internet," said Khang

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