' J3 l9 ^( o! j. k- sBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai + t3 D0 [) F* i" O
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 a# Q, s; X2 t# @
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9 G8 o# N: H4 T _! Q5 R! v3 eBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION ) ] A# P4 D X3 @( t( i2 \( T$ U 3 ^$ ?4 a% ]+ `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. ) _- g% l& k8 G' v2 G, i x) `% t4 Y4 J/ ]) _% @ n
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.& L9 G2 K: P6 b
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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. 5 V& h6 |5 M- d9 H1 Q) ] ; x+ [' R5 W: M* lThe 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 | _7 B# y% n$ T& y* R6 h# N1 L
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. ) t+ P& q* y, ] F! n/ u # |( b1 Q# ~% v; R7 l9 zThe 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.' i3 G. t8 n$ q: b% E% r
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. $ t* o* c9 y2 S7 S3 a2 R' I, }. H7 x* R# I
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.” & L2 j- |+ E& W# g 3 s# ^& J( X! f' r7 NThe 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.# m% A1 S: u$ 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. 9 G- z( d* v6 F) \2 C* d, O9 }) r B# k' ~: D
& c% \$ q5 x p+ e/ A5 u4 D% e5 w 2 _8 ?, K) o# [, G# p% O" jFinancial Times
