Feathering of
Nests?
By
Chua Jui Meng
Whole Bird’s
Nest
I was surprised
by Chinese vernacular newspaper reports that the draft protocol to be signed
between Malaysia and China to lift the more than year-long ban on bird’s nest
exports will not require any radio frequency identification (RFID) system.
Both
Agriculture and Agro-Based Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar and his deputy Datuk
Chua Tee Yong appear to be backtracking on the issue.
Both had
been very insistence on the mandatory installation of RFID tags on
boxes of bird’s nest exported by Malaysia.
They
had also gone on record, telling the media that it was China’s demand to have
the RFID clause in the protocol.
Broken Bird’s Nest
Now
that China has signed protocols with Indonesia and Thailand without such a
clause, Noh and Tee Yong have been exposed as deviously lying on their draft
protocol.
They
have been distorting the issues to suit their agenda. The truth will prevail when
the contents of the protocol are made public after the signing tomorrow.
Noh
and Tee Yong’s attempt to force bird’s nest exporters and traders in Malaysia
to use RFID tags was probably thwarted by the protocols signed by Indonesia and
Thailand with China that did not require any costly RFID tags, bar code or QS
system for exports of bird’s nest to China.
Bird’s Nest Strips
Noh and
Tee Yong must start observing some transparency on their protracted attempts to
have China lift the ban on bird’s nest exports from Malaysia.
Since July
2011, when China banned imports of bird’s nest from Malaysia, both Noh and Tee
Yong have been working under a cloak of secrecy on the draft protocol.
Why are Noh
and Tee Yong not observing transparency in the measures that they want to take,
implement or enforce to have the ban lifted?
House Bird’s Nest
They are
now trying to sign the protocol but the aggrieved traders and farmers do not
know its actual contents.
Are not
the input of some 100,000 swiftlet farm houses and traders nationwide crucially
relevant?
Noh and
Tee Yong are behaving as if they are more knowledgeable than the industry
players. Or are they just seizing the opportunities from the ban to come up
with regulations to corner the bird’s nest market and industry?
Are they
looking after the interests of middlemen and cronies who are given export
licence? Are the monopolistic measures aimed at grabbing a giant’s share of
Malaysia’s bird’s nest exports, estimated to be worth RM2 billion annually?
Cave Bird’s Nest
Noh and
Tee Yong’s “secret protocol” has naturally given rise to bird’s nest traders
and operators’ suspicions of a hidden agenda.
China
imposed the ban after it found high levels of nitrate in bird’s nest from
Malaysia. It was the work of unscrupulous and greedy traders who exported the
tainted and fake bird’s nest to China. In any industry, there are bad apples.
Why are
Noh and Chua bent on clamping down on the bird’s nest industry players? The
industry had been thriving for decades without such a protocol, why now the
need for a stringent one?
Cake Bird’s Nest
Indonesia
and Thailand have already signed protocols with China and are resuming bird’s
nest exports to China but we are still feuding over Noh and Chua’s insistence
of having a tracking and tracing system.
Why can’t
Malaysia just sign a protocol similar to Indonesia and Thailand’s with China
and be done with the ban?
Noh and
Tee Yong must explain clearly and convincingly their real intention for initially
wanting a protocol with a clause for mandatory installation of RFID tags.
History
had shown that greedy middlemen, backed by those in power, would zoom into
multi-billion-ringgit industries to grab a slice of the cake.
Bird’s Nest
They
usually achieve this through devious ways, like introducing regulations that
restrict free trade and measures that create opportunities for economic
monopoly.
If Noh and
Chua were sincere in wanting to help lift the ban imposed by China, they would
have acted swiftly and not allowed the deadlock to last until today.
They would
have used Malaysia’s good bilateral and diplomatic relations to get the ban
lifted. They claim to have excellent relations with China, what happened?
Packed Cleaned Bird’s Nest
According
to the protocols signed by Indonesia and Thailand with China, all that are
required for bird’s nest to be exported to China is that the packaging and labelling of the products carry the product
name, weight, company name, address and registration number of processing
establishment, product storage condition and date of manufacture.
Of course these are in addition to domestic
approvals and licences issued by the various health and regulating authorities,
all with potential to discriminate and give cronies the edge in the industry.
Both Noh
and Tee Yong must be held responsible should the industry collapse due to their
inefficient handling or failure to resolve the ban swiftly.
A Bird’s Nest
The
majority of bird’s nest farmers will protest against the government for going
ahead with a protocol that is against their interest and welfare.
Many
had borrowed money from financial institutions to build swiftlet houses in
Malaysia and their investments were now in jeopardy.
