Yang Yongping, director-general of the Vegetables Sub-council of the China Chamber of Commerce for Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-products, said: "China's vegetable exports are safe and do not have serious pesticide-residue problems, as some of the Japanese media have claimed."

He was speaking in the light of both Japan's entry-inspection results and safety-guarantee measures adopted by the Chinese Government and Chinese companies.

The director-general said Chinese vegetable exports are in the interests of Japanese importers and consumers as well as of Chinese producers and exporters and have become an integral part of Sino-Japanese trade.

"We hope the Japanese Government will get rid of the influence of political factors and lower its technical barriers," he said.

"The majority of Chinese vegetable exporters have established a complete and sound quality-management system for their production base," said Yang.

He said Chinese exporters carefully choose land that contains no harmful materials and they keep detailed records of and strictly control each process, including planting and the use of fertilizers and pesticides, to ensure the quality and safety of their products.

Yang, also general manager of the Shanghai Gaorong Food Company, said his firm, like many other Chinese vegetable exporters, has invested heavily in setting up laboratories to inspect the quality of its products.

Chamber of Commerce President Cao Xumin said Japan's stricter quarantine and inspection measures aim to stop vegetable imports from China and shield backward local industries under the name of protecting consumers' interests.

(China Daily September 6, 2002)