The Standard System and Quality and Safety Standards for Banana in China

Dongmei ZOU，Yongbo Pan，Zhi XU，Jinhui LUO

1.Analysis and Testing Center，Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences／Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Tropical Product（Haikou），the Ministry of Agriculture，Haikou 571101，China；2.Tropical Crops and Products Standardization Technical Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture，Haikou 571101，China

1 Introduction

In 2012，the banana harvest area in China was6 millionmu，and the banana yield reached 10.55 million t；the imports were 0.626 million t while the exports were 0.0078 million t.The harvest area，yield and imports have increased year by year，with a huge trade deficit［1］.In recent years，due to adjustment of agricultural planting structure and Central Government's preferential agricultural policy，China's banana industry has been enjoying a boom，and it is regarded as a pillar industry of high-efficiency tropical agriculture which plays a very important role in increasing farmers' income.Since China's accession to WTO and establishment of＂China-ASEAN Free Trade Area＂，the banana standards are becoming increasingly important in international trade，and these standards are becoming an important means and basis for the world's countries，especially developed countries，to restrict import，seize the high ground of trade，and resolve dispute in trade［2］.In the future，China's imports of banana will increase while exports will continue to fall.From the perspective of technical barrier to trade，China's banana exports are vulnerable to the impact of foreign technical barriers to trade，which affects the export of banana to a large extent［3］.China's banana industry needs to be upgraded and the product quality needs improvement.Therefore，in terms of production，trade，processing，testing，and management，China urgently needs to study the banana standards during the whole process of production，accelerate the process of standardization of banana industry，and constantly improve China's banana standard system，which will help to improve the yield and quality of China's banana，protect the banana trade，and increase the competitiveness of international and domestic market.

2 Banana standard system revision at home and abroad

At present，there are 93 valid banana-related standards at home and abroad（Fig.1）.The first overseas standard is France'sRaw Banana Storage and Transportation（NF V22-105-1967）andFruits，VegetablesandRaw Banana Ripening Conditions（NFV02-101-1971）.ISO standards includeRaw Banana Ripening Conditions（ISO3959-1977）andRaw Banana Storage and Transport Guide（ISO931-1980）.CAC's standard isInternational CodexBananaStandard-Banana［CODEX STAN 205-1997，Amended 1-2005（Ch）］.There is standardBanana（CNS 2951-1998）in Taiwan.Currently，there are 87 valid standards and 14 obsolete standards in China.The earliest standard published was national standard Banana（GB 9827-1988）in 1988.During 2013-2015，Standardization Technical Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture for Tropical Crops and Products developed and revised some banana standards includingBanana Seedling Breeding Technical Regulations，Banana Harvest and Post-harvest Handling Regulations，Regional Experimental Technical Specification for Tropical Crop Variety-Banana，Examination and Approval Standard for Tropical Crop Variety-Banana，Pest and Disease Monitoring Technical Regulations for Tropical Crop-Banana Blight，Disease and Insect Resistance Identification Technical Regulations for Tropical Crop Varieties-Banana Bunchy Top DiseaseandBanana Heart Rot Mosaic［4］.

3 China's banana standard system revision

3.1 Level of banana standards

3.1.1 National standards.Currently，China has released 8 national banana standards including1mandatory standard and 7 recommended standards.6 of them are about disease prevention and control，and 2 of them are basic standard and quality specification，respectively.On June 1，2013，China implemented 2 standards：Banana Bract Mosaic Virus Quarantine and Identification MethodsandFusarium Oxysporum f.sp.cubense（FOC）Race4Quarantine，Detection and Identification.The revised standard in 2015 is Banana（Table 1）.

3.1.2 Industry standards.At present，there are 41 industry standards concerning banana in China，26 of which are under the jurisdiction of Standardization Technical Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture for Tropical Crops and Products，accounting for 63.4%of industry standards.All of the standards are recommended standards exceptNon-pollution Food-Tropical Fruit Origin Environmental Conditionsas a mandatory standard.In terms of the standard types，there are 13 disease prevention and control standards，8 basic standards，6 regulations and analysis and testing standards，4 quality specifications，2 packing and circulation standards，1 safety requirement and 1 environmental requirement.In terms of the industry type，there are26 industry standards concerning agriculture（NY），12 industry standards concerning commodity inspection（SN），2 industry standards concerning meteorology（QX），and 1 industry standard concerning Business（SB）.In terms of the area that the standards fall within，there are 18 about plant protection specifications，6 about germ plasm requirement，breeding，testing and evaluation methods，4 about production and processing procedures and management practices，2 about product quality requirements and test methods，1 about production and processing environmental requirement and analysis and testing method，and 1 about packaging and labeling and storage technology.

Table 1 The existing valid national banana standards

Table 2 China's existing valid industry standards about banana

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3.1.3 Local standards.China's localbanana standards are mainly developed by the main producing areas such as Guangdong，Guangxi，Hainan，Yunnan and Fujian.Currently，there are38 local banana standards（10 in Guangdong，9 in Fujian，8 in Guangxi，8 in Hainan and 3 in Yunnan）（Table 3）.In terms of the standard type，there are 16 about specifications and regulations，10 about quality standards，7 about basic standards，3 about disease prevention and control，and 2 about packaging and circulation.

Table 3 Local banana standards

（to be continued）

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3.1.4 Enterprise's standards.The products produced by enterprises have no national standards and industry standards，so it is necessary to develop the enterprise's standards as the basis for organizing production. According to incomplete statistics， the enterprise's standards for banana in Hainan includeBanana Production Technical Processes，Banana Quality Grading and Packaging StandardsandBanana Plantlet Standards；the enterprise's standards for banana in Yunnan includeBanana PowderandBanana Pulp.Enterprise's standards play a positive role in promoting the development of regional banana industry and local economy.

3.2 Main categories of China's banana standards and period of validity of standards

3.2.1 Categories.At present，China has 87 valid standards related to banana.There are22 about disease prevention and control and specifications and regulations，16 about basic standards，15 quality specifications，6 about analysis and testing，4 about packaging and circulation，1 about safety requirements and 1 about environmental requirements（Table 4）.

3.2.2 Period of validity of standards.China's standards are generally revised every five years，and industry and local standards are issued frequently in recent years，but overall，the period of validity of national and industry standards is relatively short，while it is relatively long for local standards（Table 5）.In terms of the period of validity of banana standards，there are 16 standards with more than 10 years of period of validity，accounting for 18.4%；there are 40 standards with 5-10 years of period of validity，accounting for 46.0%；there are 31 standards with less than 5 years of period of validity，accounting for 35.6%.Among them，there are 5 national standards，accounting for 5.8%；there are 22 industry standards，accounting for 25.3%；there are 4 local standards，accounting for 4.6%.

Table 4 Category of China's banana standards

Table 5 The period of validity of banana standards

4 Banana quality and safety standards

4.1 Overview of quality and safety standardsChina's national standards of pesticide residues in fruits began in the late 1970s.On March 20，2014，the Ministry of Agriculture issuedNational Food Safety Standard-Maximum Residue Limit of Pesti-cides in Food（GB／T2763-2014），and started to implement it on August 1，2014，instead of GB／T 2763-2012［5］.The standard provides3650maximum residue limits of387 kinds of pesticides in food，and the maximum residue limits of67 kinds of pesticides are related to banana，including 40 kinds of pesticides，21 kinds of antiseptic，3 kinds of herbicides，2 kinds of acaricides and 1 plant growth regulator（Table 6）.National Food Safety Standards-Limit of Pollutant in Food（GB／T2762-2012）provides that the limit of lead and cadmium in fresh fruits is0.1 and 0.05mg／kg，respectively［6］.

Table 6 China's maximum residue limit of pesticide in banana

4.2 The residue limit standards of pesticide in banana at home and abroadIn terms of the formulation of agricultural pesticide residue standards，China lags far behind the developed countries，particularly Japan and the EU.There are 450 pesticide residue indicators concerning banana in the EU，6.7 times as many as that in China；there are 290 pesticide residue indicators concerning banana in Japan，4.3 times as many as that in China；there are 57 pesticide residue indicators concerning banana in South Korea；there are 55 pesticide residue indicators concerning banana in the US；there are 18 pesticide residue indicators concerning banana in Australia；there are35 pesticide residue indicators concerning banana in CAC［7］.The limit standard of Paraquat，Pyrazole Kresoxim，Carbendazim，Haloxyfop-methyl，Fenarimol and Triadimenol in China is stricter than in the world's major banana trading nations，while the limit standard of Difenoconazole azole，Profenofos，Famoxadone，Fluorine wow azole，Epoxiconazole，Biphenyl triadimenol and Triadimenol is looser than in other countries.The limit standard of Myclobutanil and Prochloraz in China is the same as that in Japan and South Korea.The limitstandard of Fenbutatin，Fenpropimorph，Fenbuconazole，Bifenthrin，Azoxystrobin，Pyrimethanil，Iprodione and Ethephon is the same as that in Japan.The limit standard of Deltamethrin is the same as that in South Korea.Only China sets limits on Diniconazole（Table 7）.Overall，the banana limit standard in China is looser than in foreign developed countries，which brings disadvantage to China's trade to a certain extent.But compared with the ASEAN countries，the limit standards are more stringent and there are many types.

Table 7 The banana pesticide residue lim its at home and abroad（Unit：mg／kg）

5 The main problems in China's banana standard system

5.1 Slow update of some standardsIn recent years，some banana standards in China have been revised，but the period of validity of standard is too long.The national standard with the longest period of validity isBanana（GB9827-1988）（27 years）；the industry standard with the longest period of validity isInspection Procedures for Fresh Banana to be Imported and Exported（SN／T0885-2000）（15 years）；the local standard with the longest period of validity isComprehensive Standard for Banana Cultivation（DB44／T 48-1990）（25 years）.With rapid economic growth nowadays，it is difficult to adapt to the needs of domestic and international banana production and trade.

5.2 Unreasonable structure of banana standard systemIn recent years，although China has accelerated the revision of banana standard system，the standard structure is not reasonable.Among the87 banana standards at present，there are few standards about post-production links such as processing，packaging，storage and transportation，so it is difficult to adapt to the needs of the domestic market and international market.

5.3 Few enterprise's standardsIn the marketeconomy，enterprise should be the main body of standard system，but in China's banana standard system，there are few enterprise's standards.There are many enterprises engaged in the banana product development in China，but few of them put their own quality specifications as enterprise's standards to be made public.

5.4 Low technological level of standardsBased on the low level of banana safety standards in China，it is necessary to research and develop them aximum limit standard of pesticide in banana，limit the types of pesticides and adjust the excessively stringent limit standards.There is a need to strengthen the detection methods and standards for pesticide residue in banana，especially the multi-residue detection methods and standards，in order to provide scientific and practical detection methods for the quality and safety monitoring of banana.

6 The implementation status of banana standardization

6.1 Content and form of publicity and imp lementation of standardsStandardization is an important way to organize modern production and management，and the main banana standards to be publicized and implemented include nine standards such as Pollution-free Food-Banana Production Technical Processes，and Banana Pest Control Technical Specifications（Table 8）.In order to improve banana product quality，increase economic efficiency of banana industry and enhance the market competitiveness of banana，the Tropical Cash Crop Technical Subcommittee of Tropical Crops and Products Standardization Technical Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture，in conjunction with relevant experts of National Banana Industry Technology System，has developed Standardized Banana Production Technical Table（Figure）and other concise technical data in Hainan，Yunnan，Guangdong，Guangxi and Fujian.From 2012 to 2014，the Tropical Cash Crop Technical Subcommittee organized the relevant experts to set up training courses concerning publicity and implementation of banana standards for farmers in Guangdong，Yunnan，Fujian and Hainan，and sent out about4000 copies of banana standards and related technical data.

Table 8 Major standards of banana production and quality

6.2 The problems in the implementation of banana standards and corresponding recommendations

6.2.1 Disconnection between standard study and industry.At present，most of the institutions involved in the development of standards are research institutes and universities，while few enterprises participate in it.Due to insufficient publicity and implementation of standards and weak applicability of standards，banana growers do not know banana standards or there are few standards for use in the production，resulting in low level of adoption of banana standards.The standard formulation units coupled with industry should revise the banana standards，quickly convert the mature and advanced technology into systematic，theoretical and precise technology，and revise and implement existing standards as soon as possible，to promote the sustainable and healthy development of the banana industry.

6.2.2 Disconnection between achievements in scientific research and standard system revision.The achievements in scientific research are not well connected with standards，making many scientific and technological achievements difficult to be converted into standards.Meanwhile，there is no research project to support，leading to low technological level of standards and weak scientificity.In addition，the standards can not be identified as scientific and technological achievements after being released，affecting the enthusiasm of scientific and technical personnel for participating in agricultural standardization.Relevant departments of the Ministry of Agriculture should strengthen communication and coordination，offer policy support，covert good research results into standards，and improve the quality of standards.

6.2.3 Disconnection between standard system revision and implementation feedback.The standard system revision includes five processes：development，promotion，implementation，feedback and review.Every link is indispensable in the process.However，there is a ubiquitous phenomenon of more emphases on development，less publicity，less emphases on implementation，lack of feedback，and difficult review in China.The problems of weak publicity and implementation and inadequate review are particularly prominent［8］.It is necessary to continuously improve the banana standard system，regulate the process management of standard system revision，and establish banana standard publicity training，consulting service，application and performance evaluation system.

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［5］GB 2763-2014，Maximal Residue Limits of Pesticides in Foods-National Food Safety Standard［S］.（in Chinese）.

［6］GB 2762-2012，Standards of Contaminants Maximum level in Food-National Food Safety Standard［S］.（in Chinese）.

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