November 12, 2015
Chinese bulk-buying strips Aussie market shelves of infant formula
Australian supermarket shelves have been stripped of infant formula as Chinese tourists, students and relatives living in Australia had been bulk-buying the products throughout October to sell on Taobao and other Chinese websites during the one-day online shopping frenzy known as "singles day".
The Guardian newspaper reported online that thousands of sellers were found hawking Bellamy's Organic baby formula products on Taobao, which is similar to eBay, whose pricesper tin ranged from 160 yuan (US$25.13) to about 250 yuan ($29.37).
Chinese consumers turned to Australian, New Zealand and British baby milk products after six babies died and nearly 300,000 others fell ill in 2008 after drinking infant formula laced with chemical melanine.
The AustralianDepartment of Agriculture and Water Resources on Wednesday issued a statement saying it understands the concerns about shortages of infant formula on Australian supermarket shelves.
It said supermarkets were "taking measuresto make sure adequate stock of infant formula are available and have been talking to their suppliers".
"These are commercial arrangements between retailers and the manufacturers of infant formula", it added.
The agriculture department pointed out that its role "is to ensure goods exported comply with the Export Control Act 1982, meet foreign government requirements, are safe and accurately described".-Rick Alberto
