Protecting Agricultural Product Brands Requires Tough Measures to Crack Down on Counterfeiting

The protection of agricultural product brands has reached a critical moment, one that cannot be avoided.

Wuchang “Daohuaxiang” rice from Heilongjiang is widely renowned, delicious, and sells well. But whether you can buy authentic Wuchang rice is another matter. An agricultural official said, people say Wuchang rice is the finest under heaven, but rice from all over has thrown Wuchang into chaos. At present, Wuchang has a total of 2.1 million mu of rice paddies. If the counterfeit Wuchang rice on the market were converted into planting area, it would amount to several, or even dozens of times, 2.1 million mu. According to data from the Wuchang Municipal Bureau of Statistics, in 2014 Wuchang rice output was nearly 580,000 tons, less than 1 jin per capita nationwide, but industry insiders estimate that at present at least 10 million tons of “Wuchang rice” is offered for sale on the national market.

It is not only Wuchang rice. Any agricultural product that has made a name for itself will have someone trying to pass off imitations. Yantai apples and Laiyang pears from Shandong, Lipu taro from Guangxi, Longjing from Hangzhou in Zhejiang, Xuanwei ham and Pu'er tea from Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs from Jiangsu…… it is almost impossible to find a famous agricultural product that has not been counterfeited.

The methods of counterfeiting are endlessly varied. Add a little flavoring to rice, and it becomes Wuchang rice. Hairy crabs shipped in from elsewhere take a bath in Yangcheng Lake, and they become Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs. Once counterfeited, the quality of some well-known agricultural products is hard to guarantee, and it is inevitable that their brands will be damaged and their markets ruined. Two years ago, a deputy mayor of Wuchang led a work team to grain markets across the country to crack down on counterfeiting, with little effect; at one counterfeit Wuchang rice sales outlet, they nearly got beaten up. In the places of origin of counterfeited agricultural products, both farmers and officials are extremely anxious.

Protecting agricultural product brands admits no delay.

After years of development, combining local characteristics with industrial advantages, China has formed a large number of well-known agricultural product brands. Led by these well-known agricultural product brands, China's brand agriculture has grown rapidly. Registered agricultural product trademarks increased from 600,000 in 2008 to 1.25 million in 2012, doubling in four to five years. However, because of a late start and a weak foundation, many products are relatively uncompetitive, and most influence remains local. There are not many brands that span provinces and regions, and even fewer that are internationally known. Some brands that originally had advantages have, because protection mechanisms are incomplete, enjoyed only brief fame. At this critical moment, if well-known agricultural product brands are allowed to be counterfeited, their destruction in the market will not be far off.

In cracking down on counterfeit and inferior agricultural products, it is very hard to solve the problem at its root by reasoning alone. Solving the problem through legal means is a tough move. For some time now, “West Lake Longjing” anti-counterfeiting actions have been launched in many cities across the country. In Binhu District Court in Wuxi, Jiangsu alone, multiple cases have already been filed, and some large supermarkets and tea shops in Wuxi have been taken to court. Necessary reasoning must be stated, and necessary tough measures must be taken. Making counterfeit and inferior agricultural products hated by all is a task, and even more so a mission.

For agricultural product brands, building and protecting are equally important. Accelerating the building of agricultural brands has become an urgent task in transforming the mode of agricultural production and development and advancing modern agriculture, and it is also of great significance for improving the international competitiveness of agricultural products. It is necessary to further step up efforts to promote the building of agricultural product brands and improve relevant institutional design and laws and regulations, so that consumers can buy desirable brands and eat food they can trust.