! N2 k- C4 u d' E) b+ `9 M$ o2 kBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai " b9 C6 `: E T' ^1 U1 s' nWednesday, June 27, 2007 3 Z" G/ ?$ e8 X9 ^" k% F . j: ~& Y) P- Y) M/ A: K9 n6 e4 U. E( V g- E4 p" L8 G
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION8 U5 z h) X- U; Z/ t
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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., x$ D) {3 P3 G$ F- d/ |7 C4 j
, B2 g7 U& @6 AGovernment 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. # J }* X7 Y" x' d" U! j ' |/ c5 Z9 O9 uComing 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. 5 n& N1 ?2 f& [$ E9 J, H " @* F7 @1 z1 H$ `* p) ~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. ' t A; P' N( O" w W6 H5 {1 O. e7 |0 k* T# ]' |2 q: a* {8 u
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.) o: Z1 g! i4 S. n
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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.5 E6 U, H; l, G1 E9 }& Y6 y
' _, h# [# E: P6 }. x' xThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.+ B5 D' o+ H: w- Y5 A9 n' V, e
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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.” 6 ~" h/ l' ?# C2 q& l0 ^, L, G" T2 E, n
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.! l1 Z! O; ^5 b, C% b
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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.5 k4 R/ f2 W' H6 o
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