# u9 a6 M) e2 t# N8 ]7 pBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 5 D, h6 `' N9 H' r0 [) }( j: r
China 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. . \! b+ K6 k5 x8 U5 z0 e# K1 V) j" m9 h: r3 e9 g9 Q
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. ! C) p6 |( k' J p7 N- C, D% D T- }0 z$ F
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. e0 Z) I: h, m7 A: n $ T5 h( E7 s7 v5 }* n- IThe 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. * V0 ~& C. y, s1 U & p0 w, ~9 g7 }! B; o9 E' ]+ q. j+ ^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. - P8 M( d, k0 a! b- t . C# V* ^( g p5 o9 }* M; M! AThe 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. 2 P9 v/ f, M) g , ~5 R! g ~$ V) e+ ?! L b# GThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.7 V+ x- C! _: n# k; t& g: k6 |
' n5 j6 T( ?$ j' Q' SAn 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.” 1 {9 o# {( l3 T2 d- N; [9 N. Z/ M6 s5 P6 ^3 V
The 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.5 p9 m: g4 F, z) O5 l/ e, Q
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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./ U7 |+ J+ p0 a- v2 o
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Financial Times
