The Impacts of Food Safety Standards on China Export of Vegetables and Fruits

Participation in global trade means that China’s vegetables and fruits industry faces international food safety standards and increased scrutiny worldwide. The objectives of this paper were to investigate how existing food safety standards and regulations in the importing countries impact the export of vegetables and fruits from China. This paper discussed the current and historical situations of China’s vegetables and fruits export from 1996 to 2010, analyzed the Maximum Residual Limit (MRL) standards of pesticides imposed by importing countries, quantitatively estimated the impacts of food safety standards on China’s vegetables and fruits export based on a gravity model. The results showed that although transportation distance between trade partners and tariff rates on vegetables and fruits were still the importantly resistant factors for China export, vegetables and fruits export was sensitive to the number of regulated pesticides, the strictness, and the level of food safety standards imposed by importing countries, which showed a significant trade flow effect, stricter food safety standards, increased number of regulated pesticides significantly inhibit China export of vegetables and fruits. Moreover, China’s food safety standards also showed a significantly effect on vegetables and fruits export, which inhibited export to some extent. Keywords—Food safety standards, MRL, Vegetables, Fruits, Export.