From October to December last year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan investigated the origin of sea melon seeds (あさり, Chinese: Philippine clams, scientific name: Ruditapes philippinarum ) in 1,005 retailers across Japan. In 3 months, 3,138 tons of sea melon seeds were sold, of which 80% (2,485 tons) were produced in Kumamoto Prefecture. No sea melon seeds labeled as produced in China were found, and only 0.9% were labeled as produced in Korea.

However, further DNA analysis of these sea melon seeds revealed that 30 of the 31 sea melon seeds affixed to Kumamoto Prefecture were actually imported. As for the random test results of sea melon seeds produced in Aichi Prefecture and Hokkaido, the other two sea melon seed producing areas in Japan, no fraud was found. In other words, the problematic ones are all Japanese-made sea melon seeds marked as "Made in Kumamoto Prefecture".

As soon as the news came out, the price of sea melon seeds produced in Hokkaido soared, and the clams (ハマグリ) produced in Kumamoto Prefecture were also affected and faced the situation of not being able to sell or even being returned. The Kumamoto prefectural government announced on the 8th of this month that the shipment of sea melon seeds produced in Kumamoto Prefecture would be suspended for two months until the problem was clarified.

Nearly two-thirds are "counterfeit domestic products"

Japan's annual sales of sea melon seeds amounted to 12,552 metric tons, and most of them were marked as "domestic". However, in fact, the annual production of domestic sea melon seeds in Japan in 2020 is only 4,400 metric tons, of which 1,600 metric tons from Aichi Prefecture and 1,500 metric tons from Hokkaido are mainly produced, and only 21 metric tons of sea melon seeds from Kumamoto Prefecture can be estimated. About 8,000 metric tons of sea melon seeds should be "counterfeit domestically produced".

As for sea melon seeds imported by foreign countries in 2021, a total of 35,370 metric tons will be imported, of which China (25,246 metric tons) and South Korea (10,124 metric tons) are the major ones, and Chinese sea melon seeds will account for 70%.

You can earn about 460 yen per kilogram of the spread

The report pointed out that the total purchase price of sea melon seeds produced in China in 2021 is about 4.893 billion yen, which is about 188 yen per kilogram of sea melon seeds produced in China. On the other hand, the average selling price of sea melon seeds at the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market (Tokyo Central Unloading Market) is 649 yen per kilogram. In other words, if the sea melon seeds produced in China are directly changed to the place of origin and affixed with the label made in Japan, you can earn a price difference of 461 yen per kilogram.

As for the imported sea melon seeds produced in South Korea, the purchase price per kilogram is about 342 yen, and it can be a small profit if you replace them with the labels made in Japan. Too many, even if the industry wants to make a difference by forging labels, I am afraid it will not make much.

There are early signs of counterfeit origin

In fact, incidents of falsified sea melon seeds have been discovered in the past. In 2018, a fishery company in Yamaguchi Prefecture forged sea melon seeds produced in South Korea as products in Kumamoto Prefecture. After the incident broke out, the president was arrested. In 2019, aquaculture operators in Saga Prefecture faced administrative guidance for falsifying the origin of 6,000 metric tons of sea melon seeds.

Take Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries last December as an example. A certain fishery operator in Kumamoto Prefecture sold 611 metric tons of Chinese-made sea melon seeds as “Kumamoto-produced” sea melon seeds from January 2 to February 10, 2019. : If you can earn 400 yen per kilogram, you can earn 244.4 million yen by tampering with the origin of 611 metric tons of sea melon seeds. The 611 metric tons captured this time are only the total sales of about 40 days. If the industry has secretly changed the label for a long time, the price difference earned in the middle must be more than that.

At least the 2017 trading record has been problematic

Not only that, if you compare the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Kumamoto Prefecture with the transaction records of "Kumamoto Prefecture-produced" sea melon seeds in the Central Wholesale Market of Osaka Prefecture, at least since 2017, the "Kumamoto Prefecture" sold in the Central Wholesale Market of Osaka Prefecture. The total amount of sea melon seeds produced has long been 2–4 times that of Kumamoto Prefecture’s fish catch.

In 2017, Kumamoto Prefecture produced 730 metric tons of sea melon seeds, but the Osaka Prefecture Central Wholesale Market sold 1,666 metric tons of "Kumamoto-produced" sea melon seeds, accounting for 88% of the total trade volume of sea melon seeds. In 2018, Kumamoto Prefecture produced only 527 metric tons of sea melon seeds, and the Osaka Central Wholesale Market sold 1,309 metric tons, accounting for 82% of the market. In 2019, the sea melon seeds produced in Kumamoto Prefecture dropped to only 339 metric tons, but the Osaka Prefecture Central Wholesale Market sold 1,349 metric tons of "Kumamoto Prefecture" sea melon seeds, accounting for 86% of the market.

North Korea's product was changed to China's product, and China's product was changed to Kumamoto prefecture product

In view of this, this time the outbreak of sea melon seeds fraud, all the blame points to Kumamoto Prefecture. However, Toshio Katsukawa, an associate professor of aquatic resources at Tokyo Ocean University, pointed out that since Japan amended the law in 2000 to require the origin of food to be marked, there have been reports of fake origins from time to time. At that time, 60% of the sea melon seeds imported by Japan came from North Korea, but it was difficult to see the sea melon seeds marked as North Korea on the market. Because consumers did not trust North Korea, the manufacturers changed the origin to China. . However, in 2007-2008, the outbreak of poisonous dumplings made in China caused consumers to shy away from food made in China, so the industry changed the label of sea melon seeds made in China to Kumamoto prefecture or Aichi prefecture.

The production of "real, Japanese" sea melon seeds has dropped sharply

From the official data of Kumamoto Prefecture mentioned above, it is obvious that the production of sea melon seeds "produced in Kumamoto Prefecture" has been declining year by year. Obviously, Kumamoto County used to be an important production area of sea melon seeds in the past. Is it really because the price difference can be made by using sea melon seeds produced in China, and it has evolved into today's situation?

One digit less every ten years

According to data from Kumamoto Prefecture, in 1977, during the heyday of sea melon seed production, the annual output reached 65,732 metric tons. However, in the past ten years, the production of sea melon seeds has dropped to only 1,922 metric tons in 2011, 339 metric tons in 2019, and only 21 metric tons in 2020, all of which are directly less than one digit.

The production of sea melon seeds from "True Kumamoto Prefecture" will be much less, which is related to climate change and environmental pollution. In recent years, climate change has caused frequent rain disasters in the Kyushu region. Heavy rains have brought a large amount of fresh water and sludge washed down from upstream, which has changed the quality of seawater. In addition, large-scale public construction may also damage the environment. The living environment of sea melon seeds has been destroyed, so it is no wonder that the production of sea melon seeds will drop sharply.

The reason for the sudden drop in sea melon seed production is unknown

Katsukawa Toshio said that from the 1960s to the 1980s, the annual catch of sea melon seeds in Japan was 120,000 to 160,000 metric tons, but the production of sea melon seeds has plummeted since the 1990s. There are only 4,305 metric tons left, which is 3% of the heyday. It can be said that the sea melon seeds produced in Japan are almost completely wiped out. As long as you know this fact, you will know that the cheap sea melon seeds on the market are definitely imported. Toshio Katsukawa also mentioned that the reasons for the disappearance of sea melon seeds from the coast of Japan are not yet clear.

Is the problem with the certification of origin?

After the outbreak of the incident, it is generally believed that the origin of the sea melon seeds is related to the food labeling regulations, or at least the food labeling regulations have opened a side door for the origin of the sea melon seeds.

According to the current " Food Representation Law " in Japan, all food labels must include: name, allergen, preservation method, expiry date, raw materials, food additives, nutritional labeling and calories, and country of origin. If it is a processed food mixed with multiple raw materials, it only needs to be labeled as domestically produced in Japan, and it can be labeled to a smaller range, but it is not mandatory. If it is fresh food (for example: agricultural products, meat, aquatic products, etc.), it must be marked in the prefecture or a well-known place name according to Japan's " Food Representation Standards ".

"Long time rule" applies to farmed shellfish

If fresh food and ingredients stay in more than 2 places during the growth process, the place where they stay the longest will be the main one. Crops are basically the place where the final harvest is produced, so this "long-term rule" is mainly based on animals. However, not all aquatic products are applicable to the "long-term rule": only some farmed shellfish or farmed aquatic products are applicable. "The law of time", if it is aquaculture products that have moved across borders during the growth process, the place that has been waiting the longest is the place of origin; if the aquatic products are cultivated in Japan during the growth period, the place with the most weight increase (subscript to the prefectures) County) is the place of origin.

In other words, if the sea melon seeds originating in China were transported to Kumamoto before they grew up, as long as they stayed in Kumamoto for a long time or gained enough weight in Kumamoto, it would not count. Violation. However, how to judge the length of time and growth rate of sea melon seeds in Kumamoto and China?

Is it a direct forgery of the origin?

According to the video reported by the sea melon seeds counterfeiting group, the video shows that a large number of sea melon seeds produced in China are "farmed" on the coast of Kumamoto Prefecture, and then the sea melon seeds are picked up from the shore of Kumamoto, which can be regarded as "Kumamoto Prefecture" Produce". Without DNA identification, it would be impossible to distinguish between the natural sea melon seeds that originated on the coast of Kumamoto Prefecture and the sea melon seeds that were later introduced from China and scattered on the shore. Even if it is based on DNA identification, if this method is used for a long time, the sea melon seeds produced in China and the natural sea melon seeds in Hiroshima are not raised separately, and it may not be able to be identified from DNA identification after several generations.

In fact, if the counterfeiting group wanted to make a lot of money, they would not want to spend this effort at all, first scatter the sea melon seeds produced in China on the coast of Kumamoto Prefecture, and then pick up the sea melon seeds. On the one hand, this step is a waste of time, manpower and money. On the other hand, if too many sea melon seeds are sprinkled in the same place, the density is too high, and the sea melon seeds may die, which is not worth the loss. It is conceivable that there will be a direct modification of the label, and the sea melon seeds produced in China will be directly linked to the counterfeiting group produced in Kumamoto Prefecture. At present, the official opinion of Kumamoto Prefecture is also the same. The total amount of sea melon seeds that directly forged the origin should be more than the sea melon seeds produced in China who have been raised in Kumamoto Prefecture for a period of time and then picked up after drilling through loopholes.

There is no long-term breeding of imported sea melon seeds

The more fundamental problem is that there are actually no "foreign sea melon seeds raised in Kumamoto Prefecture for a long time" at all.

According to the Fisheries Promotion Division of Kumamoto Prefecture, most of the sea melon seeds imported from foreign countries are "adult shells" that have grown to about 3 cm. The sea melon seeds of this size are about 2-3 years old, and the sea melon seeds in some areas are relatively long. If it is fast, it is probably 1-2 years old. After these sea melon seeds are imported to Japan, it is impossible to cultivate more than this normal time. Basically, it does not even span a season (3 months), and it will take about 1-2 weeks. goods. That is to say, the time these foreign sea melon seeds stay in Kumamoto Prefecture is to adjust the temporary storage of the shipment of fresh sea melon seeds, so as to avoid the price collapse caused by the massive sale of sea melon seeds in one go. Therefore, Kumamoto prefecture does not and will not do statistics on the livestock population of foreign sea melon seeds.

The industry admits that it will directly change the place of origin

In fact, when interviewed by Kumamoto Daily News , many fishery-related businesses admitted that in the past, the practice of forging origins was almost always imported from overseas, and the whole bag was directly changed to the origin. The whole process did not need to go through Kumamoto at all. county. This practice is called "harasaki り".

Do a good job of checking and make the production and sales resume more transparent

Now Kumamoto Prefecture has stated that it wants to find out the truth of "origin forgery", and called on the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Consumer Affairs Agency in central Japan to revise relevant regulations so that the "long-term rule" is no longer applicable to sea melon seeds, but will this solve the problem? Relevant industry players said that the problem of counterfeiting in the origin has long existed, and the Kumamoto prefectural government was to blame. The administrative unit did not notice that the total amount of sea melon seeds produced locally was so different from the market sales volume. Responsible?

The problem of forgery in the production area is not limited to the sea melon seeds "produced in Kumamoto Prefecture". Other sea melon seeds producing areas must also pay attention to whether there is a problem in the entire industrial chain. In addition, other shellfish that apply the "long time rule" like sea melon seeds may also have a similar situation. In addition, there have been reports of problems with the origin of eel and tuna in the past. For example, eels are mostly sold after processing, which makes it more difficult for consumers to confirm the origin. For frozen tuna imported from abroad, it is suspected that some mid-market traders have changed the frozen tuna from China to label Taiwan, because it is easier to sell. 

In order to make consumers feel at ease, the government must do a good job of checking. If the Kumamoto prefectural government has no way to find out the truth within 2 months, thoroughly washes the past without careful inspection, and even has the suspicion of letting the operators do whatever they want, there is no way to get back the consumption. trust in "Kumamoto Prefecture". At the same time, the crisis is also a turning point. If the sea melon seeds industry in Shin Kumamoto Prefecture can take this opportunity to make the production and sales history more transparent, consumers can check whether the source is the source at any time when buying or eating. "Made in Kumamoto Prefecture" also helps to raise the quality assurance of Japanese-made sea melon seeds to a higher level. Only in this way can we have the opportunity to regain the trust of consumers.