BBC News Top Stories-Business Chinese garlic is a national security risk says US senator
December 8, 2023 2 min 356 words
这则报道引起了人们对中国大蒜安全性的担忧，美国参议员瑞克·斯科特呼吁对中国大蒜进口展开政府调查，称其对国家安全构成威胁。他声称中国大蒜存在不安全的生产方法，包括在污水中种植。然而，这一说法缺乏科学证据，麦吉尔大学的科学与社会办公室表示，没有证据表明中国使用污水作为大蒜的肥料，并指出人类排泄物与动物粪便一样有效，且更为安全。 这一指责可能与长期存在的中美大蒜贸易争端有关，美国曾指责中国以低于成本价倾销大蒜，并对其征收高额关税。斯科特强调食品安全对国家安全的紧迫性，但在缺乏确凿证据的情况下，这一言论可能被视为过于偏见和政治化。此举或许更多地反映了两国贸易关系的紧张，而非真实的安全威胁。
A US senator has called for a government investigation into the impact on national security of garlic imports from China.
Republican Senator Rick Scott has written to the commerce secretary, claiming Chinese garlic is unsafe, citing unsanitary production methods.
China is the world's biggest exporter of fresh and chilled garlic and the US is a major consumer.
But the trade has been controversial for many years.
The US has accused China of "dumping" garlic on to the market at below-cost price.
Since the mid-1990s it has levied heavy tariffs or taxes on Chinese imports in order to prevent US producers from being priced out of the market.
In 2019, during the Trump administration, these tariffs were increased.
In his letter Senator Scott refers to these existing concerns. But he goes on to highlight "a severe public health concern over the quality and safety of garlic grown in foreign countries - most notably, garlic grown in Communist China".
He refers to practices which, he says, have been "well documented" in online videos, cooking blogs and documentaries, including growing garlic in sewage.
He has called for the Department of Commerce to take action, under a law which allows investigations into the impact of specific imports on the security of the US.
Senator Scott also goes into much detail about the different types of garlic that should be looked into: "All grades of garlic, whole or separated into cloves, whether or not peeled, chilled, fresh, frozen, provisionally preserved or packed in water or other neutral substance."
He argues: "Food safety and security is an existential emergency that poses grave threats to our national security, public health, and economic prosperity."
The Office for Science and Society at McGill University in Quebec, which attempts to popularise and explain scientific issues, says there is "no evidence" that sewage is used as a fertiliser for growing garlic in China.
"Human waste is as effective a fertilizer as is animal waste. Spreading human sewage on fields that grow crops doesn't sound appealing, but it is safer than you might think."