Bogus China fruit cuts Taiwan farmers to the core

TAIPEI, Nov 8: China, renowned for knockoff brand-name watches and pirated DVDs, is now producing fake Taiwan mangoes, guavas and other produce for which the island is famous.

Cartons bearing ''Made in Taiwan'' labels but packed with inferior China-grown fruit are being sold for a premium to unwitting shoppers in China willing to fork out up to seven times the price for the high-status and better quality Taiwan fruit.

The fruit scams have riled growers and distributors in Taiwan, who say the falsely labelled fruit damages the reputation of Taiwan produce and could harm its markets in China.

''This does have an impact on us,'' said Yan Kuo-hsian, a supply and marketing chief with the Yuching farmers association in Tainan, home to some of the island's best mangoes.

''Chinese consumers taste that stuff and wonder why it's so bad,'' he added.

But its unlikely much can be done about it as relations are tense and it is difficult to resolve legal issues due to the deep political differences between Taiwan and China, which regards the self-ruled island as a renegade province.

It's not just ''pirated fruit'' that has irked Taiwan.

''Made in Taiwan'' labels have been found on China-grown tea leaves, rice and flowers, said Chang Jung-kung, director of Taiwan's mainland affairs governmental department.

Chinese consumers prefer Taiwan fruits to domestically grown produce because Taiwan's soil yields better flavours and because the word ''Taiwan'' -- a place that for political reasons most in the mainland cannot visit -- carries mystique, he added.

NIP PROBLEM IN THE BUD

The fake versions of premium label Taiwan products has galled leaders in Taiwan as well as angered producers, who are worried the pirated food products could hurt their sales on the mainland and cut into profits. ''I'll say it again, we want China to begin talks with us on this issue,'' Mainland Affairs Council chairman Joseph Wu said at a news conference in mid-October.

Trademark disputes are not uncommon between China and Taiwan.

Legal institutions in China dealt with 58 trademark and copyright disputes involving Taiwan companies in 2004, about 15 per cent of the total copyright disputes it handled altogether that year, according to the Lovells law firm Shanghai office.

Relations between China and Taiwan are so strained that any legal negotiations takes place through special negotiating bodies, a time-consuming and complex process.

The fruit problem first became evident about two years ago in the relatively prosperous coastal areas of China where fruit from Taiwan sells for many times the price of locally grown produce.

Following complaints by Taiwan, China directed an agriculture committee to look into the false fruit labelling issue but has not released any findings.

No major criminal rings are suspected in the scams.

''It's just some traders taking boxes,'' said Yan with the farmers' association in Tainan. ''There is no way to solve this.'' In the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, not everyone is sure the expensive Taiwan-labelled fruit is the real thing.

''The boxes they come in say 'Taiwan fruit,' so we sell it as Taiwan fruit,'' said Liao Yuanming, a stock boy at a market, as he stacked guavas. ''Whether it's true or not, I can't say.''

REUTERS