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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ! J$ _/ p: @& `. ?1 a. @- l2 w1 IWednesday, June 27, 2007 2 H; ^! T% A& ]) E E8 `: X9 a' D. `# P, |
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION7 }2 u' [! Q. R$ f; E# m
0 U2 c8 i: ?% _: yChina 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# k9 u6 t( @( \7 S1 i8 Z' `9 G* L- E4 J: ~, d
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. 0 k) L1 ]4 x j5 ~3 j ! p/ y1 k2 ~- V9 AComing 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 ~! k" f' H9 d+ _' Y
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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.0 u0 V: X+ l! ^( w2 c
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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. , K6 u9 o6 d {- D : i9 |2 h1 \% K7 P& c1 r4 DThe 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. 3 b+ }0 E3 a& G3 A6 {5 X7 B6 p5 B. M9 v8 M% j
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. / m9 y- W6 {2 M5 K/ X9 n4 [( ]7 d( v" F& S5 w# b }
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.” 4 \5 G6 ^" M7 p( B. i: e : K( t0 F. S7 D( TThe 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.4 a7 G$ V) z1 D6 S9 I* ~0 _
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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. * t$ R5 s7 }! @( { 4 i3 U6 r, h8 @7 O2 Z9 e 2 Z( b g3 w# j3 @2 Y ! ~" d; m( D2 c6 e- O0 GFinancial Times
