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"Plastic rice"
Big news: "Nigeria finds Chinese-made plastic rice"
Recently, the news that “Nigeria discovered Chinese plastic rice†was sizzled by the heat – specifically, it was fried for three rounds.
The first round was relatively less popular. The initiator was a little-known Korean news website, saying that “Nigeria found Chinese-made plastic riceâ€, “outer packaging bag marked rice, but opened plastic pelletsâ€, “cooking rice†The shape is obviously wrong, and so on. These news have been reprinted by some Chinese media, websites and online platforms at home and abroad, but they are basically unsatisfactory.
The second round is the key to the "news fever": a famous Chinese female media person saw this anecdote from the overseas "alternative" Chinese media "Big XX Times" and used his platform without full investigation. And the influence of the "snap and discussion", and even extended to "food safety" and other issues, triggered a high degree of attention and heated discussion among the Chinese at home and abroad.
The third round is the marginal benefit of the second round: the BBC forwarded the “speaking clip†of the Chinese female media person, which not only made this “hot news†have “international influence†but also “exported to domestic salesâ€. "There is more turmoil in China. After all, the Chinese female media person has been controversial in reporting quality, but the BBC is a relatively credible old international media.
However, since the first round, Chinese and foreign people have been skeptical: businessmen are profit-seeking, using plastics to make "fake rice" such as "low-value consumables", which can be said to pretend to be ordinary flat glass with high-grade natural crystal. Huge, don’t you have to pay for it?
Some people who have lived, worked, or engaged in this business in West Africa have begun to interpret and clarify on various online platforms, but their influence is relatively light and almost inaudible compared with “plastic rice†and “food safetyâ€.
So what is this all about?
"Pocket rules" in the most corrupt countries in Africa
The author has been engaged in the foreign trade industry in West Africa since 1992, and from the "buddy" to the "boss", from the storage and transportation, documents to the first-line (West Africa) salesman has done, the author's wife is engaged in international shipping agency The 20-year-old "old qualification" is no stranger to this "plastic rice." In fact, this is not a "new thing."
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the country with the highest degree of industrialization and the strongest purchasing power in West Africa. But at the same time, it is also the most corrupt country in Africa recognized by “old Africa†and “old foreign tradeâ€. The corruption in this country is reflected in the "import and export" field of people and goods, which is the proliferation of "pocket rules."
What is a "pocket rule"?
To put it simply, there are countless “not allowed†on the rules of the table. Many very common international trade goods are “absolutely†not allowed to be imported or exported, but in fact these goods have been continuously imported and exported, and It has an absolute monopoly in the local market. The reason for this is to give the operators and operators the flexibility to rent-seeking and increase the extra income.
In terms of the textiles that the author has been engaged in for a long time, Nigeria's best-selling varieties of Asian and European imported textiles, such as batik plain cloth, twisted heald cloth, and large and comprehensive jacquard fabrics, are strictly prohibited to be imported on the "countertop". However, in fact, most of these textiles in the country’s market are filled with hundreds of items and cabinets every month. It is only necessary to find a superb “declarantâ€, which is complicated and costly. The "prescribed procedures", these goods can be shipped in a big way. The so-called "ban" is actually just a matter of adding a fee to the "mouth".
But this is not the whole problem: because the goods that have already been imported are still "smuggled" in theory, if the release unit is uncomfortable with the owner or other related parties, they may use the "smuggling" for a public business at any time; In terms of the importation of goods, the customs, the police, and the “custom squadâ€, the Ministry of Commerce, the state and the municipal government, which are nominally owned by the customs, have the right to toss those under their own “eyesâ€. “Smuggling goodsâ€, when the author was in the neighboring country of Nigeria, the economic capital of Benin, Cotonou, several familiar colleagues encountered the most unfortunate things in the Nigerian economic capital Lagos (about 2003 or 2004): Because of the contradiction between the Ministry of Commerce and the Smuggling Brigade, the latter sealed the dozens of textile containers that had been released by the former and had just entered the warehouse, and tossed a month, the owner of the goods spent a large price redemption, and the front foot smuggled private brigade seal was removed, the latter business The seal was posted again - it was not counted before the money was paid, and it had to come back again.
Since the market order is so chaotic, why are there so many businessmen rushing?
"Tabletop" rice, "under the table" plastic
Nigeria is the most dynamic and market-savvy country in West Africa, and many products have large gross margins. Therefore, even if the cost is high and the risks are high, most of the “old Africa†are still reluctant to spit out this “fat†that is not easy to swallow. In fact, in the store department of Cotonou in Benin and Lomé in Togo, many businesses are still from Nigeria. The small distributors in the country themselves buy in small quantities and then ship them back. For large wholesalers, the risks are passed on. Allocated. However, this sales model does not have a competitive advantage in product prices, and not all products are suitable.
The plastic mentioned at the beginning of the article belongs to the category of “not suitableâ€: it is an industrial raw material, not a consumer product, it is difficult to “zero-breakâ€, and it can only be “squeaky†with the scalp – “plastic rice†came into being.
Simply put, “plastic rice†is exporting plastics from the beginning, not rice. The reason why it is to report “rice†is because rice belongs to the products that can be legally imported on the “topâ€, while plastics can only be like the front. The textiles mentioned go as "under the table." Pretending to be a "high risk" in plastics, in fact, as long as there is no problem in the "gate" process, there will be almost no trouble. In the default, "it takes a step to make money," Nigeria is not only "how fast, but also saves". Concise and less risky (only dealing with one link); on the contrary, honestly reporting plastics, not only the "check" link is not saved (importing "fake rice" is "smuggling", importing "real plastic" is the same as smuggling) Moreover, it is necessary to deal with more "existing management" and joints. It is not only costly, but also risk control is more difficult. "The two evils are taken lightly." As the country with the largest consumption of plastic raw materials in West Africa, how are importers and exporters? Choice, it goes without saying.
My personal contact with the "plastic rice" business for the first time was in 1992. At that time, I worked as a documentary in a state-owned tea import and export company in Zhejiang. The actual business of this business was a small company owned by Yuyao Company. (In the same year, the foreign trade system was not liberalized, and small companies did not have the right to import and export.) Later, a Ningbo University alumnus made a fortune by relying on this.
The "plastic granules" of the year were mainly polypropylene pellets with lower prices and grades, but some of them were still introduced in West Africa. As the degree of industrialization in Nigeria increased, the various grades of polyethylene pellets with higher grades and higher prices were Even the PTFE particles, known as the "Plastic King", "joined the battle group."
Due to the high risk, large domestic companies rarely dealt with such businesses in the past, mainly small intermediaries and small manufacturers engaged in “rich and dangerous insuranceâ€. In recent years, the situation is very different. Importers are often registered in Africa or in Dubai and the Canary Islands. When ordering from China, they are marked as “plastic pelletsâ€, but the consignee is outside Nigeria, waiting for the goods to be exported from China. After the change of destination, contract and bill of lading, "Plastic" turned into "rice" and then shipped to the real destination - Lagos or Port of Hakut in Nigeria.
Such "stealing the column", is China's domestic manufacturers and exporters informed or cooperated? As mentioned above, those who initially "attached" are not only informed but also the actual mastermind. But today's situation is "very complicated" according to a friend's statement. There are both insiders, participants, and the goods that are completely kept in the dark, neither knowing their goods, the final destination is Nigeria, and even better, the end-end plastic particles will be Loaded into the rice pocket.
How many years has this "plastic rice" business lasted? It is unclear that it has been more than 20 years old in my own experience, and in fact the source country is far more than the Chinese one. Although the "connotation" and "extension" have changed a lot during this period, "business" itself has always existed, and "plastic rice" has never been introduced, sold or used by the owner as a plastic, and it is not possible to pretend to be impersonating. Rice – even the cheapest propylene pellets, the price is several times that of rice.
The so-called "plastic rice" was investigated
The new media era makes the truth "more and more secret"
Since it is a tacit "half-and-half-and-white" business, why was it suddenly investigated? As mentioned above, Nigeria’s corruption is rampant and there are many political transactions (a major domestic airline has opened a direct flight from Guangzhou-Lagos, first The ambassador of Fesni in China personally boarded the plane, because "there is a fear that the customs officials of Lagos will not recognize the visa issued by the Beijing Embassy and humiliate the first flight ceremony", which can be seen from each other. Once an aspect is "unbalanced" It is possible that someone "crosses a bar" and breaks the "hidden rules" to a "public business". Generally speaking, this kind of "public business" will return to the "hidden rules" situation with the "human condition in place". After all, Nigeria is in a hurry. In fact, it is necessary to import various "prohibited imports" products. . But this time, "plastic rice" was caught by foreign journalists who were unknown, and was rendered by a series of more "outsider" and clever "second setters" and "three-passers", and finally made such a " The news of the sky is coming.
In the past few days, some media and departments that have come out to "clarify" have swallowed up their causes. The reasons are complicated. There are problems of "unfamiliar" and "unprofessional", and some departments that are actually familiar and professional are inconvenient to talk about (although Nigeria The "black customs clearance" issue is similar to the similar problems in Russia. It is a "hidden rule" closely related to the actual situation of the local market. It is generally understandable in the circle, but after all, "there is no table", and the media in the "new media era" The serious "return to the ancestors" of quality, especially professional attitude, makes the truth "discussed more and more dark".
Obviously, this incident has nothing to do with “food safety†because no buyer or seller has planned to eat or sell such expensive goods as “plastic riceâ€.
China is Nigeria's most important trading partner. If it is said that the former "black customs clearance" and Nigeria's peculiar "pocket rules", almost all Nigerian foreign trade partners choose the default is excusable, then today, perhaps It is necessary and capable of relying on internationally accepted trade rules to “talk to the first populous country in Africaâ€. Only in this way can plastics that are exported to the country continue to be plastic, and rice is still made of rice.
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