* ^/ f* D& Y" M& z+ I2 P, O " m6 p4 `- p4 Y- w) R3 g# d8 hBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai . t( V2 I5 M2 x B# t% s% K$ nWednesday, June 27, 2007 }) Q o( W( H/ j+ `3 O- v) v ! I, O' y6 |: p. P6 q- P' O) c( k! q) x1 a) M
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION6 V. `; z$ q- T3 f$ x4 o
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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. @7 ?9 O- r- Q" C
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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. ' f# T2 }* }; P, k& z' h7 a ) Q0 u& D% D+ vComing 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.; _# a* [" j3 J* K8 u
. x5 O0 }0 w2 U' kThe 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.: V7 z( C; Y% x, o, X
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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.- F5 w1 z" U0 H$ x( _
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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.1 ^6 D6 c$ v5 ?
! ?+ O3 d) C* Y; GThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. ! {# f! ^, x% ]5 b9 Q' W6 A& i" V: I- d2 g9 z5 F$ l
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.” 9 K( ~+ [9 ]4 r: g' t2 d# K. s$ e* m) V# h) Y U* I. w
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. 9 i6 [7 A4 i' t+ e4 t/ u5 d1 N8 ]/ m/ ?9 f5 S
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. 4 ^- z" f1 }! `* |+ }. k + w9 C9 v6 K% g5 f; o4 x ; q3 m7 H1 v6 \- H2 n+ P4 w+ x2 M+ ]
Financial Times
