. D/ w5 U2 ]' r3 F9 w) I _5 P/ [By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai $ g1 Z" ]0 f( j9 F! W2 {
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - m3 P$ i' {7 S7 y$ R5 L9 D l
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. f% ?; O, _, M7 {( O u0 \BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION ( K7 d/ [9 b" n/ x3 ~0 ^5 E 2 E& p9 Q3 B, a# \ _+ SChina 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. 4 s& t/ N. U! {0 a; j. r8 c1 r" F0 I( ~8 V/ ^& I
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.& Y, g' Z H) X+ b$ _
4 S3 Z/ ?" ]9 Q) ^8 L `/ }0 DComing 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.2 I* K$ b7 B% {8 A: J1 c' q! a
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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.7 [/ O% ], d3 q: ^! T& b
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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.* {0 N g1 a$ n: M# l |) s
* k2 ?) h& d* A% t2 h) x) W( UThe 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.+ R1 ^* G& O6 f6 C; q6 a
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.& H' D% ?) {$ W
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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.”! H' r# Q0 h" ~4 {
) S( r# i# w! l8 `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. ; F% `8 Y% T+ n0 J- N2 ]8 O) J3 _; B$ l# Z, `
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 j+ s8 h- i: ]9 A9 T0 g ! P: q) @! V* H6 U i$ C7 k4 F! K! s0 R4 o( b+ S+ L
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Financial Times
