Food importers and local traders have turned cautious and voluntarily stopped Chinese imports after epidemic
The news came as a bombshell that coronavirus (COVID-19) from China had an outbreak. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of people killed by the virus surpassed 1,000 on February 11. Wuhan, which is believed to have been the origin, is in lockdown and the majority of border crossings into Hong Kong are now closed, WHO said. The question arises is how the virus is impacting the food and beverage industry worldwide? Well, authorities and industries are doing their bit to prevent spreading the virus into other countries. China, too, has responded in several ways by restricting travel inside the country, discouraging large gatherings, including for food service and out-of-home dining, and extending the national holidays.
As per Foodnavigator-asia.com, several countries have acted to ban the import of food items from China. One of these was Indonesia, which started with the ban of live animal imports from the country and is set to release a list of other banned food items soon. Agus Suparmanto, the Trade Minister of Indonesia, told the Foodnavigator-asia.com, “We are still in the preparatory stage, laying out details so we don’t target wrongly. Indonesia will only stop imports of products that could potentially spread the coronavirus.” He also told Daily Express that exports would not be affected.
Food importers have turned cautious and local traders have voluntarily stopped food product imports from the country. Even though there hasn’t been a nation-wide announcement about ban on Chinese food and beverage imports, but as per PTI, Manipur government has banned the import of packaged food items from China, Myanmar and Southeast Asian countries which do not comply with FSSAI regulations. The notification came after two cases of mild swine flu were detected in samples of people entering Manipur.
Some restaurateurs say that people are avoiding Chinese cuisine for the fear of getting infected by the virus. Many restaurateurs also say that they have started to look for alternative resources. “Lots of ingredients come from China. We buy them through distributers. But all supplies are approved by the food regulator. Right now, we don’t foresee any issues but there will be a crunch in supplies in the coming months. We may have to make some dishes unavailable from the menus till supplies resume,” chef Sharad Dewan, regional director-food production, The Park Hotels, told an Indian national daily.
Australian Industry Group (AiGroup) GM, International Competitiveness, Louise McGrath, told Food & Drink Business that impacts on different industries will be a delayed shock because of the timing of the outbreak. “Everyone expects a period of quietness at this time of year due to Chinese New Year. If it had happened at any other time of year the impact would be much more noticeable,” she told.
The Seafood Trade Advisory Group (STAG) said the last seafood airfreight cargo accepted to China was 26 January, with no landings since from Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world. STAG told Food & Drink Business, “There is widespread dysfunction within China at the moment due to an increasing number of workers staying home.” The national body representing the seafood sector, Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) told food news website that it was a “rapidly evolving situation” with the loss of orders impacting many in the industry, from fishers, to exporters and freight companies.