中国严格限制婴儿配方奶粉进口

China has clamped down on importers of infant formula exploiting the nation’s hunger for foreign brands, as part of an effort to restore the local dairy industry’s share of the national market.

中国已开始严格限制婴儿配方奶粉进口商，以此作为恢复国产乳品行业占国内市场份额努力的一部分。在此之前，这些进口商一直在利用中国国民对外国品牌奶粉的渴望牟利。

A 2008 scandal in which domestic milk was deliberately adulterated with melamine, a byproduct of coal, in order to fake protein tests is still hurting Chinese dairy producers more than five years on. Foreign infant formula brands now account for half the market, up from about 30 per cent before the revelation that at least six infants had died and 300,000 were made ill after drinking tainted formula.

2008年发生的一起丑闻伤害了中国乳品制造商逾五年，这种伤害的影响仍在继续。目前，外国婴儿配方奶粉占据了国内市场份额的一半，而在该丑闻曝光之前，这一份额只有30%。在那次丑闻中，中国国产奶粉被故意掺入了一种煤炭业的副产品——三聚氰胺，以便以作假方式通过蛋白质含量测试。爆料显示，该事件中至少有6名婴儿丧生，30万名婴儿在喝了被污染过的奶粉后患病。

Since then, Chinese parents have snapped up infant formula with any international connection, allowing foreign brands to charge a hefty premium and spawning a homegrown industry of smugglers hauling boxes of formula into the country. Some Chinese companies have even set up shop in New Zealand repacking bulk formula and selling it into China as a foreign brand.

自此以后，中国的父母始终在通过各种国际渠道抢购婴儿奶粉，令外国品牌的奶粉得以大幅加价出售，还在中国国内催生了一种新的行业——“水客”们将成箱的婴儿奶粉偷运进中国。部分中国企业甚至在新西兰设了车间，将成品婴儿配方奶粉重新打包，并以外国品牌返销国内。

New rules issued over the weekend require dairy products produced overseas to be registered with the quality watchdog, or be barred from entry at China’s ports. A second regulation requires all formula sold in China to carry Chinese-language labelling affixed at the source.

上周末发布的新规定要求在国外生产的奶制品必须在中国质检总局注册，否则将禁止进入中国口岸。还有一条规定则要求所有在华销售的婴儿配方奶粉必须带有在原产地贴上的中文标识。

Together, the regulations appear to be aimed at importers redirecting formula products originally destined for different markets, as well as shutting down the domestic and overseas-based repackagers trying to capitalise on the “imported” cachet sparked by the safety scare.

这两条规定合在一起，似乎是为了应对那些从其他市场向中国转运配方奶粉的进口商。同时，这两条规定还能堵上中国本土和国外从事再包装的商家通路，他们试图从因国内安全担忧而被罩上光环的“进口货”中获利。

The new move coincides with state efforts to support and promote domestic brands. In 2013, China floated a plan to subsidise five domestic producers, including four of the country’s largest dairy producers and the previously unknown Treasure of Plateau, which had begun producing formula from yak’s milk in 2012.

这一新的举措恰逢中国大力扶持国内品牌之际。2013年，中国提出了一个计划，为五家国内生产商提供补贴。这五家生产商包括中国四家最大的奶制品生产商，以及此前名不见经传的高原之宝(Treasure of Plateau)。高原之宝是一家从2012年开始用牦牛奶生产婴儿配方奶粉的奶制品生产商。

Beijing city has allocated Rmb10m ($1.6m) to local champion Sanyuan to develop a national indigenous brand “fit for the growth of Chinese babies,” the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Monday. Sanyuan products tested free of melamine products in 2008, but it subsequently bought many of the assets of state-owned formula maker Sanlu based in neighbouring Hebei province, which was at the centre of the scandal.

据《北京青年报》(Beijing Youth Daily)周一报道，北京市为当地冠军企业三元(Sanyuan)拨款1000万元人民币（合160万美元），以开发“适合中国婴儿成长”的中国本土品牌。2008年，三元在检测中未发现带有三聚氰胺的产品，不过该公司后来收购了许多三鹿集团(Sanlu)的资产。三鹿集团是一家总部位于与河北省的国有婴儿奶粉生产商，该集团正是三聚氰胺丑闻的当事人。

State-led efforts to revive the domestic industry have included regulations that dairy product suppliers invest in their own dairy farms and the acquisition of formerly private market leader Mengniu by state agribusiness giant Cofco. But the efforts have done little to restore public confidence in the industry.

中国实施了一系列政府主导下的复苏国内乳品产业的努力，包括规定奶制品供应商应投资建立自己的奶牛场，由国有农产品企业巨头中粮集团(COFCO)出面收购曾经的顶尖民企蒙牛(Mengniu)。但这些努力对恢复公众对该产业的信心没起到什么作用。

China imported a record 1m tons of milk powder last year, customs data shows. In the first quarter of this year, imports rose nearly 24 per cent to 240,000 tons.

海关数据显示，去年中国进口奶粉达到创纪录的100万吨。今年第一季度，奶粉进口量增至24万吨，增长了将近24%。

One of the biggest beneficiaries has been New Zealand, whose national dairy co-operative Fonterra had partnered Sanlu and blew the whistle on the melamine adulteration. Chinese dairy companies have invested in New Zealand farms to bolster their own reputation and secure milk powder supply, while Fonterra is now investing directly in dairy farms in China.

这种局面下最大的受益者就是新西兰。新西兰国家级乳品联营公司恒天然(Fonterra)曾与三鹿集团合作，还揭发过三鹿奶粉掺杂三聚氰胺的情况。中国乳品企业一直在投资新西兰农场，以提高自身的声誉，并确保奶粉供应源头的安全。同时，恒天然也在直接投资中国的奶牛场。