Walmart in new China food scandal

沃爾瑪在中國再爆食品安全醜聞Walmart in new China food scandal英國《金融時報》 徐曉瑜香港, 巴尼•喬普森紐約報導


Walmart is facing fresh accusations of selling substandard products in China just months after a scandal over mislabelling cost its country head his job and damaged the chain's reputation in a market where food safety is a major concern.
沃爾瑪(Walmart)正面臨在中國銷售劣質產品的新指控，就在幾個月前，圍繞假冒綠色豬肉的一場醜聞，導致該公司在華業務負責人下台，並在人們極為關心食品安全的中國市場損害了這家連鎖超市的聲譽。
The animal husbandry and foodstuff bureau of Dazhou city, a city of nearly 7m people near Chongqing, said it had asked Walmart's local branch in January to stop selling pork ribs sourced from diseased pigs.
擁有近700萬人口的四川省達州市靠近重慶。達州市畜牧食品局表示，曾在1月份要求達州沃爾瑪停止銷售病害豬排骨。
An official from the bureau said yesterday the news was only made public now because it had been asked by the government to provide the media with “classic case studies” this week – food safety week.
該局一名官員昨日表示，現在才公佈這一消息，是因為政府要求該局在本週（食品安全週）向媒體提供一些經典案例。
A separate report published by state media on the same day said that a branch of Walmart in Beijing was found to be selling sesame oil with carcinogenic ingredients, and fresh squid with too much heavy metal. Local state media reports said Walmart had withdrawn all the products .
同日，中國官方媒體的另一篇報導稱，沃爾瑪在北京的一家門店被發現銷售含有致癌成分的小磨香油以及重金屬超標的鮮魷魚。據當地官方媒體報導，沃爾瑪已下架所有不合格產品。
Walmart released a statement yesterday on the incident in Dazhou, but not on recalls in Beijing. “The [pork] product was immediately removed from our shelves in that store and we have discontinued supply of that product,” the company said. “Since January , we continue to be in close contact with the Dazhou government on such matters.”
沃爾瑪昨日發布了一份有關達州事件的聲明，但沒有對北京的產品下架表態。該公司表示，相關（豬肉）產品立即從那家門店的貨架上被撤下，該店已停止供應該種產品。同時自1月以來，沃爾瑪方面與達州市政府在相關問題上保持密切聯繫。
The latest incidents could prove a blow to Walmart's efforts to improve its performance in China, where it has 370 stores. In the last quarter, China was the only country where Walmart's sales lagged behind the overall market. Comparable store sales only grew 1.2 per cent from a year ago.
最新曝光的這些事件，可能打擊沃爾瑪改善在華業務表現的努力。沃爾瑪在中國擁有370家門店。在上一個季度的沃爾瑪總體銷售中，中國是唯一落後於整體的市場。可比門店銷售額同比僅增長1.2%。
Part of the reason was the perception that it had failed to provide sufficient safeguards over its local supply chain, said Shaun Rein, a China retail consultant.
中國零售業諮詢顧問雷小山(Shaun Rein)表示，部分原因在於這樣一種觀感，即沃爾瑪未能對其當地供應鏈提供足夠保障。
The company has been sanctioned 21 times by the Chongqing government since 2006, during the time when the city was run by the now disgr​​aced Bo Xilai. The worst scandal was the discovery last October that ordinary pork was being sold as more expensive organic pork. That led to the arrests of two store managers in Chongqing and the overhaul of Walmart's China management team.
自2006年以來，該公司遭到重慶市政府21次處罰；在此期間重慶由現已落馬的薄熙來執掌。最糟糕的醜聞發生在去年10月，當時沃爾瑪在重慶的門店被指將普通豬肉貼上綠色豬肉的標籤高價出售。這導致重慶兩名門店經理被捕，沃爾瑪在中國的管理團隊被改組。
The accusations come as Walmart is embroiled in corruption allegations stemming from its Mexico business. Two US senators investigating the allegations, initially made in the New York Times, this week revealed that Walmart's external lawyers told them they were reviewing policies in M​​exico, China and Brazil and had recommended evaluations also in India and South Afr​​ica.
面對上述指控之際，沃爾瑪正因其墨西哥業務捲入腐敗指控。 《紐約時報》(New York Times)最先曝光這些指控，對指控展開調查的兩名美國參議員本週透露，沃爾瑪的外部律師對他們表示，他們正在審議沃爾瑪在墨西哥、中國和巴西的政策，並已建議也對其在印度和南非的政策進行評估。
Additional reporting by Zhou Ping in Hong Kong.
週蘋香港補充報導
譯者/何黎