1 L. V/ m' w; n/ ?" b- o 9 H$ b) p: v. c2 F& M- xBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 2 R# k1 t# B# H" _5 `Wednesday, June 27, 2007 & S1 }0 `* c. i6 p
2 Z+ _& f% l5 y& I. n6 |" R $ F( N$ u7 O- v1 C: f# EBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 7 e4 k; w; I, O0 K0 e2 E3 J3 Y! Q: o4 N- X" w7 b
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./ j% b6 l1 G" n
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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. / K7 u/ W, g% K7 k+ _+ {3 S 7 |+ Q3 l6 s8 @/ E9 J9 h5 PComing 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. ( r, L" I3 |2 ]. x , @! U/ B6 E6 A# b" l( }( JThe 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./ A+ r7 {3 y- y) z5 e$ z9 i, ?
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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.* y4 |/ s& _ T5 ~+ Z, {* p- k7 G/ @
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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.9 s. i% y* y& x: M. |, j" z$ x) w- Q
% K# s6 Z8 G3 d( NThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.; c+ t w1 [. @3 m, G n
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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.”% Q Q! \- l3 E' N* V5 E
( \7 d2 e2 X# _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. n5 u) J% I' N) M+ z ) J% q( e4 l# b( H/ R1 ~5 M1 UThe 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. ' i9 D- j6 T! d( F+ _# P3 p 8 G H1 u9 {( u7 ]7 C; c " ]! [- Q$ B7 X5 B* Z 2 ?! @( L) n2 i% L* u4 LFinancial Times
