* L3 S9 [$ A o2 g ; C! l1 m& Q a/ aBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai & E; v* n7 t8 ZWednesday, June 27, 2007 : d2 v& h9 ?# ^3 K K+ c. ^ . ~+ y" i1 M6 F4 F5 @. @2 ~0 e1 _
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION" }0 g4 O& E# Z
3 P' ^4 _, R: k& E9 ~8 [* U- ^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.+ e1 \: p8 I- d! z$ V2 }! Y
0 }; A5 ?- m4 yGovernment 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. * M3 ]8 K F" g! @+ M7 f# o. D+ h" n# U& j: N* Q5 h8 V$ W4 D
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.3 D+ }* j' o7 P' H. ~
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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.2 X! W7 ?4 {( ^
( h) r' b+ K# P. Q: bChina'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. 4 P7 n7 \& a( B 4 ^1 V# Z( s! x3 m2 S0 vThe 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.# `. Y2 x& _0 j- Z9 v
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.* t1 b) p. k1 r7 n5 I8 k
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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.” + V8 i0 i4 y& `0 d9 m7 O% H) a( L5 `- T
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. ( Q, k* |* \3 o' v % E! u H4 r; |$ dThe 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. ! `$ n6 o* s4 S1 C. S3 H1 q- d4 C 5 b8 H R& A' |5 m0 A 2 N1 e" u. _$ i . t$ u2 R) b9 J/ A' J \ dFinancial Times
