' O2 l; n/ j3 n0 K) w+ E9 _$ DBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION; @5 q2 `# R- F' d: o
: i4 K/ h+ h; ]% W) tChina 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. 6 ~) s$ w, g x" H7 l8 P# Z4 x0 D) |; o9 J$ w' r
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 i1 x$ l; N1 ?) l- Z. N% c " f9 e7 e3 a8 _) ~* V( LComing 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.8 X& r+ C1 y! o. G
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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.5 o$ s. [/ x2 ?1 l+ K
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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.9 \. `6 l# \# U6 _. f6 g
. W" n$ N+ h) \2 _7 [- r7 @; RThe 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. ' M* N5 k) h" s3 `+ L0 V. I Q1 S9 R {
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.) J+ R' }3 L+ x, V( u0 G
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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.” ' v- J3 O/ e: Y$ E" x/ N' ]1 U( I" }; r g! ?' d
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. $ g' Y" I2 u# O9 e. _: Q$ ^" {6 k, S' [, X, p2 B
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. " U- c" S2 E6 B* e3 y9 s( v7 O2 |0 B: m7 C9 `
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Financial Times
