China’s Milk Scandal, government policy and production decisions of dairy farmers: The case of Greater Beijing

Chinese consumer quality perception and preference of sustainable milk

“…Increased consumption not only provides market opportunities, but also places great pressure on domestic dairy producers. Mainly due to the mismatch between the fast growing dairy industry and effective regulations and food safety control, the Chinese milk industry experienced several severe food safety incidents (e.g., the 2008 milk scandal) that damaged consumer confidence in domestic milk products (Jia, Huang, Luan, Rozelle, & Swinnen, 2012;Pei et al, 2011). The dramatic increase in the number of dairy cattle also creates some environmental problems because many dairy farms are small and lack the incentives and facilities to produce milk in socially responsible ways that are both environmentally and animal friendly (Shefali & Zhang, 2014).…”

Biosecurity and disease management in China’s animal agriculture sector

“…Similar responses can be seen today as China's government and animal agriculture sector address a wide array of disease and product quality problems (Gale and Hu, 2011;Pei et al, 2011;Jia et al, 2012). It is now government policy to encourage larger, more standardized and vertically integrated production systems while parts of the private sector have responded to demands for quality assurance.…”

Has China's Dairy Structural Adjustment Policy Achieved Its Goal?

“…However, the elimination of those collectors will drive the small-scale farms out of the market by cutting off their links with manufacturers and leaving those farms with no buyers for their output. While there was no evidence the melamine contamination scandal was caused by small-scale farms they had no option but to dump their milk as government policy makers sought to restructure the nation's dairy industry [4]. Apparently, milk collector control is an irrational regulation but the discussion of this is beyond the scope of this research.…”

“…For example, research has examined the impact of dairy industry regulation on dairy enterprises' structure [2], and on the spatial distribution of milk collection stations of Inner Mongolia after the milk collector's governance [3]. The small-scale, scattered farms would be hurt by the milk scandal, which draws some concerns to estimate effects of the marketing and production management policies on small-scale dairy farmers [4,5]. However, few papers have been published on the implementation of the DSA policy, its funding and impact on farm structure change .The DSA policy is a significant part of post-scandal dairy reform in China.…”