China and Japan are preparing for negotiation on technical issues
concerning Chinese vegetable exports to Japan, the Ministry of
Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation said Tuesday.
Ministry spokeswoman Gao Yan slashed some Japanese media reports
which claimed that Chinese vegetables sold to Japan had serious
safety problems.
"These reports are biased and not objective. They misled Japanese
consumers and damaged the reputation of Chinese vegetables. It is
unfavorable for the normal vegetable trade between the two
countries."
China always attaches great importance to food quality and safety
and has taken a series of measures to ensure that all products,
including export commodities, meet quality and safety requirements,
Gao said.
The technical measures on trade issues taken by some countries have
far exceeded the limits needed to ensure product quality and
safeguard consumers' health, she said.
As
for the technical standards Japan has adopted, Gao said, there are
some contents that are not scientific or rational enough, and this
is the root of the so-called quality problem with Chinese vegetable
exports to Japan.
China hopes Japan would clarify the biased reports and
appropriately solve the issue so as to create a good environment
for bilateral trade, Gao said.
(Xinhua News
Agency July 31, 2002)