Customs inspections urged for uncovering counterfeit seed

Specialists called on the government to pay attention to seed security, suggesting that customs inspect agricultural products more closely, as Hunan police recently uncovered so-called "golden corn".

Police in Tongdao county, Hunan province, reported that people suspected of smuggling and illegally selling the counterfeit seeds were handed over to judicial departments on Friday.

In May 2012, 29 households in the county planted more than 13 hectares of the so-called US golden corn seed, but the farmers reaped nothing at harvest time, police said.

After a test of the county's agricultural authority, the seed was deemed unqualified because its germination rate was only 16 percent, far below the nation's standard, police said, adding that the farmers' losses totaled more than 600,000 yuan ($98,820).

Four months later, the farmers called police after they did not reach an agreement on compensation with sellers of the seeds.

Police investigated and found that Mingfeng Co, based in Lianzhou, Guangdong province, imported the seeds without a due quarantine and inspection process, and sold them to more than 10 areas, including Jiangxi, Hunan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The planting area was more than 6,667 hectares, and the sale volume of the seeds reached millions of yuan, police said.

Later, another company based in Huizhou, Guangdong province, was found to be supplying the seeds to Mingfeng Co. In May of this year, Li Zhenyao, head of the company, was arrested, police said. Li confessed that Luo Haihong, his supplier, had been smuggling seeds through Thailand since 2003.

Luo was detained June 21, police said.

"The suspects entered our country as parallel traders and then registered companies to do the purchases," said Peng Wanlei, a police officer in Tongdao county.

Li Wenliang, who participated in investigating the case, said the suspects also asked travelers to China to carry the seeds or sent them via logistics, "which make it difficult for customs to find", he said.

It is a must for the country to pay close attention to seed security "because it will affect State safety if we ignore its risks," said the researcher, who is also a professor at the University of International Relations.

He suggested that the nation build up a special group with members of different authorities, such as the customs and agricultural departments, to handle such cases in the future.

Under the Chinese Seed Law issued in 2000, China allows private and foreign seed companies to join the market instead of only government-run seed businesses.

"The open market requires our government to transfer its function and improve its supervision, or else agricultural smuggling or illegal purchase could always happen," he added.

Wu Ming'an, a law professor at China University of Political Science, agreed with Li while adding that customs must conduct more rigorous inspections.

He explained that Chinese Criminal Law makes it a crime to sell counterfeit agricultural products, such as fertilizer and seeds, but he added that the key to preventing such crimes lies in controlling the goods through customs.

"If these fake or poor-quality seeds can be controlled at customs, the first threshold of our country, the market won't be as messy and farmers' losses will be reduced," he added.

Peng Chaozhou, one of farmers who bought the seeds in the county, confirmed the loss among the households, saying the suspects have paid about 400,000 yuan in compensation.

"But other farmers don't believe me now, because I'm the one who told them to buy the seeds," he said. "I was told the seeds would sprout within three days as I went to the Guangdong-based companies to have a look."

"In this way, I organized the farmers to buy more than 100 kilograms, but I didn't realize I had been cheated until I got nothing at harvest time," he added.