Citrus Australia said Chinese counterfeiters had been relabeling Chinese fruit with Australian labels to collect higher prices and sales,
and there was not much they could do about it. China is Australia's fastest-growing and highest-valued citrus export market, valued at about $30 million. The rise was driven largely by the "sweet, safe and healthy" profile of Aussie citrus, but that was being stolen to raise the value of Chinese fruit. Citrus Australia said some Chinese citrus was illegally being sold in wholesale markets with Australian-branded boxes and stickers, and, in some cases, given away by spelling mistakes and images of lions or tigers. Some of the fruit was even dipped in dye to enhance its color.
Queensland grower Ian Shepherd co-owns citrus packing company Gaypak, which exports half its volume to China, and claimed he'd personally witnessed a rip-off of his brand in China six years ago"...the reasons why I know it was counterfeited was because of spelling mistakes and street address being wrong. The Australian citrus industry's reputation would suffer greatly if the fake Aussie fruit was found to be treated with illegal chemicals. "If they put our logo on local fruit and there is (a chemical residue) issue... the ramifications... could be monumental.
"What we've been doing is trying to get a full understanding of who is actually importing our product, and selecting various importers who are ethical," he said. Andrew Harty, the market development manager with Citrus Australia, told ABC Radio National that the industry would now consider what legal action it could take. "We're looking at it on a number of fronts: one is to see what are the legal approaches we could take, and quite honestly, that's going to be very difficult. Those brands have got very little legal protection in China." It is now even believed some of the fake Australian citrus in China is being exported to other countries.
Milet