8 ?! F, @! x) x: @By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai + w% f& _. n, C" V* cWednesday, June 27, 2007 5 B2 S |6 [# K5 R) [$ r/ w
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' u+ T# N9 r( Y2 v! R1 qBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION! z ?$ F# D" G4 s4 a& a/ x
8 A9 p: u* _- i AChina 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./ _7 ^/ t$ b2 u4 c& ?# m9 F
8 g4 w; r8 h* f/ b# \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. " d9 v( P( \ W: c3 S* V& S8 K ( ~* s" T# k) C6 P( ?/ g; KComing 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. + U, H7 W% \/ Y; `: T% K; w% Z a1 ^( c1 ~2 u2 ]$ P u
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. ; ~# O& g4 D9 X6 `7 J + ~& [& j1 M! E/ g( w' ZChina'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. + Q0 K2 Y2 T- @% o$ B( a ! Z5 k; }* y) E7 b& @4 d7 s+ tThe 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. : Y: H6 b: U K# N' g# a5 c 2 |! n9 ~5 L$ E0 S z yThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. : E! f1 t( G3 J% b: d* z" ]* v1 C8 c* W: X; j
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.” 0 p; ?2 _' s8 P0 C 7 F( U: l" e) s2 R' KThe 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. ) r6 V8 w$ R7 f! V. ~8 q4 U) Q6 a" p1 z
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.8 L l9 Z$ _8 n' r1 [
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. ^* L+ D, b3 I5 E) w2 }# [. `( l9 L 7 _) n# i k" ?; C" m, UFinancial Times
