HONEY "LAUNDERING"-THE CHINESE EXPERTISE!

United States import honey from many countries and every imported consignment is supposed to be tested for safety and quality. In trade terms under WTO regime, anti-dumping duties can be imposed if the imports are valued low affecting adversely the domestic industry. As Chinese are known to indulge in dumping many of their products in many countries at unbelievably low prices, recourse is taken to impose import duty to make them almost on par with prices of domestic products. Honey is one such item which attracts anti-dumping duty if it originates from China. Naturally to circumvent such fiscal impositions, China often routes its honey through other countries as technically it is difficult to trace the origin of the product through existing testing protocols. While economic aspect is one thing, what is bothering the US is that Chinese honey farmers are known to be unscrupulous in using banned antibiotics to deal with infections affecting the bees in its production centers. Here is a take on this on going "honey war" between the two super powers and its consequences.  

The government is alleging that Chinese honey — which can be laced with illegal and unsafe antibiotics — was misdeclared when it was imported to the United States and routed through other countries to evade more than $180 million in anti-dumping duties. HSI and Customs and Border Protection said late last week they have stepped up efforts to combat commercial fraud that directly impacts the economy and public health. The charges come more than a year after an investigation by Food Safety News found that laboratory tests could not detect the origin of more than three quarters of honey purchased at retail locations because ultra-filtration methods remove naturally occurring pollen and make honey impossible to trace. Many in the industry say this practice contributes to honey laundering. As one honey producer put it: "It's no secret to anyone in the business that the only reason all the pollen is filtered out is to hide where it initially came from and the fact is that in almost all cases, that is China."

While one has heard about "money laundering" that refers to converting ill gotten money by individuals who do not pay appropriate taxes in their countries resorting to routing the same to tax havens where no question is asked or no explanation is given. Honey laundering refers more or less to the same technique where Chinese honey is shipped to a third country with which the US has good relations and from there it finds easy entry into the US with relatively less cumbersome inspection and surveillance.  Raw honey if not processed through ultra filtration equipment, will contain pollen and probably critical tests can pin point the source of honey through pollen testing. Chinese send almost all their honey after ultra filtration making it difficult for easy detection. Now that the US as well as the EU have been able to crack this racket, Chinese should not be allowed to go scot-free for this heinous and devious action.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

URBAN LANDSCAPING-UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Pollen induced allergy and asthma are taking increasing toll on human life and unknowingly this problem is getting accentuated due to the desire for neat looking landscapes in modern dwelling places. It is now accepted that pollen can be an environmental hazard and their count is a part of determining the quality of air in cities and towns which face many odds because of many pollutants arising out of modern living styles. The dioecious trees like poplar, willow, cedar etc have male and female flowers on separate plants and for effective pollination their number in an area has to balanced. Modern landscapers prefer male versions since they do not liter the place giving a picture perfect appearance to the area but they produce high concentration of pollen which cause allergy.

In an informative report which came out some time back, the allergen problem and its root cause were clearly brought out, resulting in a better insight into this subject. "This situation is no coincidence, according to landscape gardener, teacher and writer Thomas Ogren. He believes the steady increase in the number of seasonal allergy sufferers has its roots in a trend toward using male trees and shrubs in urban landscaping. Among the trees believed to be problematic for allergy sufferers are such popular varieties as cottonwood, willow, elm, aspen, maple and poplar"

It is remarkable that some one has been able to bring out the underlying malady that has manifested in exposing millions of children in modern well landscaped schools in North America where the pollen levels were as high as 60000 per square yard air. unknowingly these schools seem to be pushing millions of kids into the asthma abyss. In India replanting is projected as necessary to offset deforestation taking place as a part of the infrastructure building process and adequate caution is called for in deciding what type of plants should be used in this program in the light of the above report.
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V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com