美國海關與中國蜂蜜的貓鼠大戰

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Behind the immaculate gray walls of the Customs and Border Protection’s laboratory here stands a cabinet containing three plastic vials filled with a sticky, yellowish substance. Honey, or so an importer has claimed.

喬治亞州薩凡納——在美國海關及邊境保衛局（Customs and Border Protection，簡稱CBP）實驗室一塵不染的灰牆後面，立着一個櫃子，裏面有三個塑料小瓶，裝滿了一種淡黃色的粘稠狀物質。那是蜂蜜，或者說至少一家進口商說那是蜂蜜。

The lab’s task: Determine whether the samples are adulterated with sweeteners or syrups, and, if they really are mostly honey, figure out where it originated. If the honey comes from China, often the case, the entire shipment from which the samples came may be subject to additional taxes.

該實驗室的任務是，確定這些樣品中是否摻雜了甜味劑或糖漿，如果真的主要是蜂蜜，弄清楚它們的原產地。如果這些蜂蜜像通常的情況那樣，來自中國，那麼被抽樣檢查的整批貨可能都要被額外徵稅。

The chemists here regularly test a wide range of imported goods, but they specialize in analyzing agricultural imports. With remarkable precision, these scientists can tell you where the peanuts in your peanut butter came from and where the mangoes in your jam were grown.

這裏的化學工作者常常會檢測品類廣泛的進口商品，但他們的專長是分析進口的農產品。這些科學家能極其精確地告訴你，你花生醬中的花生來自哪裏、果醬中的芒果是在哪裏種植的。

But honey, No. 0409 on the 2015 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, has been a focal point for the lab and the source of a long-running international food scam that has challenged even the existing forensic technology.

但在2015年的美國海關關稅編碼(Harmonized Tariff Schedule)中編碼爲0409的蜂蜜，卻是該實驗室關注的重點，也是一場存在已久的國際食品騙局的根源。這場騙局挑戰着現有的取證技術。

Americans consume an average of 1.4 pounds of honey a year, about three and a half six-ounce bottles. Some 70 percent of it is imported. In 2001, the Commerce Department enacted a stiff tariff on Chinese honey, nearly tripling the import duty, after American producers complained that Chinese competitors were dumping their products on the market.

美國人平均每年食用1.4磅（約合0.6千克）蜂蜜，大致相當於六盎司容量的瓶裝蜂蜜的三瓶半。美國大約70%的蜂蜜依賴進口。2001年，在美國廠商投訴中國競爭對手在向市場傾銷產品後，美國商務部針對中國蜂蜜徵收了嚴厲的關稅，將進口關稅幾乎提高到了原來的三倍。

Then, honey imports from other countries spiked, including from nations not known for large bee populations. According to the American Honey Producers Association, Malaysian beekeepers, for example, have the capacity to make about 45,000 pounds of honey annually, but the country has exported as much as 37 million pounds of honey to the United States in a year.

於是，從其他國家進口的蜂蜜數量飆升，包括一些並不以蜜蜂種羣巨大而聞名的國家。比如，美國蜂蜜生產商協會(American Honey Producers Association)稱，馬來西亞養蜂人每年的蜂蜜產能大約爲4.5萬磅，但該國一年出口給美國的蜂蜜多達3700萬磅。

As it turned out, Chinese honey was being shipped through ports such as Shanghai, or Busan, South Korea, and slapped with labels from other nations to skirt American duties. The practice is known as transshipment, or “honey laundering.” Some of it was not even real honey, but a mix that included corn and rice sweeteners.

事實是，中國蜂蜜經由上海或韓國釜山等港口運走，再被貼上顯示其來自其他國家的標籤，從而逃避美國關稅。這種做法被稱作轉運，或者“洗蜂蜜”。其中一些甚至不是真正的蜂蜜，而是一種摻了玉米和大米甜味劑的混合物。

In an effort to stanch the flow of illicit honey, chemists at the lab here have tested thousands of samples pulled from barrels and containers at ports across the Southeast. In 2008, the lab demonstrated with about 90 percent accuracy that honey imported from Thailand, the Philippines and Russia had originated in China.

爲了阻止違法蜂蜜的流入，該實驗室的化學工作人員在東南亞各港口，從桶中和集裝箱裏抽取了數千份樣本，並進行了檢驗。2008年，該實驗室以90%的精確度斷定，從泰國、菲律賓和俄羅斯進口的蜂蜜，原產地其實是中國。

The evidence helped federal prosecutors build a case against two large American importers who were suspected of buying illegal Chinese honey to avoid more than $180 million in duties.

相關證據爲聯邦檢察官准備起訴兩家美國大型進口商的行動提供了幫助。這兩家進口商涉嫌採購非法的中國蜂蜜，從而規避超過1.8億美元（約合11億元人民幣）的關稅。

But this kind of detective work is daunting. At the C.B.P. lab, the analytic work takes place inside what’s known as the “country of origin” room. Inside are standing metal shelves filled with bags and plastic totes of imported honey, along with peanuts, shrimp, garlic, mangoes and other foods.

但這種偵查工作頗爲艱鉅。在CBP的實驗室裏，分析工作要在名爲“原產國”的房間裏進行。房間裏擺放着金屬架，上面放滿了袋子和塑料提包，裏面裝着進口的蜂蜜，以及花生、小蝦、大蒜、芒果等食品。

On a recent Tuesday, Robert Redmond and Christopher Kana, two of the lab’s analytic chemists, took a small honey sample and added an acid to digest it. The result looked like muddy water.

前不久的一個週二，該實驗室的兩名分析化學家羅伯特·雷德蒙(Robert Redmond)和克里斯托弗·卡納(Christopher Kana)拿了一小份蜂蜜樣品，並在其中加入了一種酸。結果，那份樣品看上去就像泥水一樣。

In recent years, scientists have demonstrated that subtle chemical variations in many foods, including honey — undetectable to the tongue or the naked eye — can give a strong indication of where it originated. The C.B.P.’s analytic work depends, in part, on these naturally occurring geographic “tracers.”

近年來，科學家已證明，在包括蜂蜜在內的許多食物中，通過舌頭和肉眼均無法察覺的細微化學變化，可以充分表明其原產地是哪兒。CBP的分析工作，在一定程度上靠的就是這些自然出現的地理“標記”。

Once a sample is diluted, the liquid is pumped into a device called a mass spectrometer that is about the size of an office copier. Inside, a nebulizer turns the sample into a fine mist over heated argon, a process that yields a distinct signature of trace elements.

樣品稀釋得到的液體會被注入一臺叫做質譜儀的設備，該設備和辦公室裏的打印機差不多大。質譜儀內部有一個噴霧器，可以將樣本變成的細小噴霧，這些噴霧經過加熱的氬氣，就可以檢測出用於追蹤來源的元素成分。

The spectrometer can measure chromium, iron, copper and other elements to several parts per quadrillion. Each combination of trace metals reflects the composition of certain soils: The elements were taken up by flowering plants and then foraged by bees.

質譜儀對鉻、鐵、銅等元素的檢測精度可以達到千萬億分之一的數量級。微量元素的構成反映了土壤的成分：這些元素被開花的植物吸收，然後被蜜蜂採集。

Soils vary from region to region, and by statistically comparing the presence of some 40 different elements to a reference database collected by C.B.P. attachés and employees, the scientists can ascertain the probable origins of many samples.

各地的土壤並不相同，通過將約40種不同元素的含量，與CBP的一個參照性數據庫進行數據上的比較，科學家們得以檢驗出許多樣本可能的來源。這個數據庫中的信息都是該機構的員工收集來的。

In late 2012, Mr. Redmond traveled to Taiwan and India to collect and test honey. His findings were then added to the database, and now lab chemists can compare honey arriving in the United States and said to be from those countries.

2012年末，雷德蒙曾到臺灣和印度收集和檢測蜂蜜樣本，他的發現後來被納入這個數據庫中。這樣一來，實驗室的化學家就可以檢驗那些進入美國，並且自稱來自這兩個地區的蜂蜜了。

But it’s only the latest maneuver in a scientific cat-and-mouse game that has stretched on for years.

但這只是科學界一場曠日持久的貓鼠遊戲中最新的發展。

At first, the detection of transshipped honey relied on a simple test for an unapproved antibiotic, chloramphenicol, discovered in Chinese honey. Carson Watts, former director of the C.B.P. lab in Savannah, said, “Very shortly after word got out that we were using chloramphenicol to identify Chinese honey, they stopped using it.”

起初，要查出轉運蜂蜜，只能靠一個簡單的檢測，確定蜂蜜中是否含有違規抗生素成分氯黴素，因爲在中國的蜂蜜中曾經發現過這種成分。薩凡納的CBP實驗室的前主任卡森·沃茨(Carson Watts)說，“我們用氯黴素來辨別中國蜂蜜的消息傳出後不久，他們就不再使用氯黴素了。”

Around 2006, unscrupulous importers appeared to be cutting honey with high-fructose rice syrup or disguising cheap, pure honey as an artificial blend. (At the time, the import duty applied to artificial blends that were more than 50 percent honey by weight.)

2006年前後，一些不法進口商似乎在蜂蜜中摻入了高果糖大米糖漿，或者用廉價的純蜂蜜來冒充人工混合的蜂蜜。（當時，進口關稅只適用於蜂蜜含量超過50%重量的人工混合蜂蜜。）

The problem? Reliably determining the ratio of rice syrup to honey is nearly impossible.

但問題在於，想要確定大米糖漿和蜂蜜的可靠比例幾乎是不可能的。

“An importer could present goods to Customs and say, ‘This is 90 percent rice syrup, 10 percent honey,’ and Customs really has no way of knowing,” said Michael J. Coursey, a lawyer in Washington who has represented American honey producers.

“進口商可以把貨物交給海關，然後說，‘這裏面有90%的大米糖漿，10%的蜂蜜，’海關真的沒有辦法查證，”代理過美國蜂蜜製造商的華盛頓律師邁克爾·J·庫西(Michael J. Coursey)說。

He added, “For two or three years, C.B.P. was pretty much the Dutch boy with its finger in the dike.”

他接着說，“在兩三年的時間裏，CBP的檢驗能力實際上力不從心。”

In 2011, the government accused three companies of importing millions of dollars’ worth of rice fructose blend that in fact was mostly taxable honey. The importers said the product was less than 50 percent honey.

2011年，美國政府指控稱，三家公司進口的價值數百萬美元的大米果糖混合蜂蜜，實際上都是應該徵稅的蜂蜜。這些進口商聲稱，產品的蜂蜜含量不到50%。

The scientists at the Savannah lab swung into action, producing evidence that pollen abundance in the blends showed the substance to be mostly honey. But defense lawyers challenged the research on scientific grounds.

薩凡納實驗室的科學家迅速採取行動，拿出了證據，用混合蜂蜜中的花粉含量表明，其主要成分是蜂蜜。但被告律師們卻用科學上的理由，對研究結果提起了反駁。

“It’s all well and good to say you need to enforce these regulations,” said Dana Krueger, who owns an independent laboratory in Chelmsford, Mass., and testified as a defense witness. “But if there’s no technology, it puts Customs in a difficult position.”

“我們需要執行這些規定，這說起來容易，”辯方證人達納·克魯格(Dana Krueger)說。“但如果沒有技術，海關的處境就十分艱難。”克魯格在馬薩諸塞州切爾姆斯福德擁有一家獨立實驗室。

The judge dismissed the case, and the government dropped the charges.

法官駁回了案件，政府也撤銷了指控。

The most sophisticated chemical analysis may have its limits. But for the moment, the food detectives are undeterred.

即使是最先進的化學分析可能也有着種種侷限。但到目前爲止，這些食品檢測人員並沒有氣餒。

“If it’s honey from Malaysia, then we’re testing for China,” Mr. Redmond said.

“如果蜂蜜標稱來自馬來西亞，我們會檢測它是不是中國蜂蜜，”雷德蒙德說。