Products manufactured in the USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands and New Zealand are all amongst those approved. Apart from BUB (and BAL before it was taken over by Mengniu) what overseas companies do you know of who were unsuccessful in their applications?
It is widely accepted that the latest registration will push out smaller companies from the market, and further consolidate market share among the major players. That helps both the major domestic companies and overseas companies who between them already control most of the market.
The new formula is more expensive to produce (due to the new ingredient requirements) and will likely attract lower margins. Another reason it favors larger companies who can manufacture at scale. In a lot of cases the Chinese producers need to source these ingredients from overseas.
Is it anti-competitive and a barrier to trade? Yes absolutely. But it is large domestic AND multi-nationals who are the winners.
My original point was that the US IF market is the same, if not worse, than China in terms of trade barriers and anti-competitive measures. It has only relaxed slightly following the Abbott crisis and even then all tariff exemptions have been ended due to the lobbying of the major domestic players.
BUB Price at posting:
19.3¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)