SEOUL: South Korea has rejected imports of about 2,200 tons of garlic from China because of poor quality, a Seoul official said, drawing complaints from Chinese garlic farmers.
The state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp returned the garlic to Lanling county in Shandong province, China, from the southern port city of Busan last month because the shipment failed to meet South Korea’s quality standards.
“The garlic shipment failed to pass quality tests at a quarantine inspection facility in Busan. So, we decided to return the shipment under the contract,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The state-run China Daily reported Tuesday that garlic farmers in Lanling county lodged complaints with China’s commerce ministry, calling the move by South Korea “unfair treatment.”
Citing Song Jiacai, general manager of Lanling Jinyifa Food Co, which has been supplying garlic to South Korea for more than six years, the report said the local government of Shandong will file a lawsuit against the South Korean food trade agency over the return of the garlic shipment.
“The South Koran authorities deliberately created technical obstacles by using the wrong inspection procedures for Chinese garlic,” the report quoted Song as saying.
However, the report also pointed out that an intermediary Chinese company was responsible for the garlic dispute because it applied China’s domestic quality standards when it exported the garlic to South Korea.
Zhao Zhongxiu, a trade professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, told the Chinese newspaper that many Chinese exporters are still using methods applied in the Chinese market to carry out international trade.
“Best garlic in the province does not mean it can pass the quality checks in a foreign country,” Zhao said.
