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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai " x3 ?% `( n, d) _& D4 Q6 t3 lWednesday, June 27, 2007 & f# h: T# a* ~* @9 m& t! C ( a' J- k/ D! l1 q, s+ k" ~7 v; Q : m. a0 |( W& `3 r+ zBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION9 o5 \9 y4 w$ g x
% n: E2 Y: D! o0 h* W( bChina has impounded two shipments of food from the US on the grounds that the produce is unsafe and warned that procedures for monitoring American food imports should be tightened.* k# X* b8 h4 d& v5 |$ i
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Government inspectors seized separate shipments of orange pulp and apricots from the US because they contained excessive bacteria and mould, China's food safety inspectorate said yesterday on its website. 9 ]9 Z4 C4 k: n* U# P* a- w* i; T3 o% H2 I/ w
Coming on the back of a series of scandals in the US over the quality of imported goods from China, the announcement will be considered by many importers as a form of retaliation by the Chinese authorities., P0 p5 E& O. k# Y; `) e X& _3 u
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The statement comes one day after regulators in the US announced a recall of up to 450,000 tyres manufactured by a Chinese company because of a potentially dangerous safety problem.4 Q( E6 o% t% B, J& Y! a2 i2 q4 D
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China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said it had impounded the orange pulp in the eastern province of Shandong and the apricots were seized in Shenzhen.3 W2 m. G% r# W: D2 U+ d1 ]
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The shipments contained “excessive bacteria, mould and sulphur dioxide”, the agency said, but gave no details about when they were impounded or how big the shipments were. ! i, ]" o0 c/ J! E9 ]) ]- `1 d6 W. u6 w& N9 K3 c
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. & `+ j" e* S& p1 s7 {! ]! D, d 4 \. K5 R. u$ s& }5 d' c! |An executive at a European trading company based in Shanghai said: “We cannot say anything for sure without seeing details about the shipments, but it certainly looks like a way of deflecting some of the attention away from China and its own quality problems.”4 I; |1 {" z4 Z: s* I) N
% ?( Y; | U6 N* l3 rThe US government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Monday the recall of tyres sold by Foreign Tire Sales, a New Jersey distributor, which are used in vans, sports utility vehicles and pick-up trucks. # B. V3 ?) ~; y) b- G# C! R/ A, P) t2 U7 m0 G& ?1 \, Q
The tyres, made by a Chinese company called Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber, lacked a gum strip that helps strengthen the tyre and prevent tread separation – the problem that caused a massive recall of Firestone tyres in the US in 2000. Officials at Hangzhou Zhongce could not be reached for comment yesterday. ) k' I+ L6 C% F4 l' j) i% U9 Z5 O. R& I2 G9 l B1 q. q' ^1 A
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