' y0 r6 w% t, _) {4 C; mBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai r7 W4 f( v* x% s
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 E5 y) r) B$ x1 D. Q0 l" C! e9 J, k* b+ ?# V: w: N* y
$ ]8 k$ i$ x0 Z8 i5 B+ |" _1 `6 UBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION ! r. V! J7 m& F" |0 ]# S6 c ! }: e/ R; j+ m W. I* i$ ~( jChina 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. , R4 V. g: o, M& I; `9 S* P8 ^& k2 j" `" B- u$ w( h
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.$ H: u# J6 W( \! |6 R( a
* O" Z1 D* E" o* \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.: u: @4 K. s0 m9 ?! b- }& s6 |
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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. , c& t6 g' o) k7 F+ l. ^2 r: _6 R0 z- {: h
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 [/ X/ {0 i0 m1 ~' h
8 Q' X( W# d) ZThe 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. ! U# ?& k0 L9 r/ H/ g: W7 d6 K ! \4 ]+ b8 f% m2 HThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. 6 r" a2 q( F& ]7 k K, v$ l+ R) C: H$ B" @+ ^( p
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.”$ L w) i1 ]% J) @. C
: L. z( Q, @$ o5 K# O5 ]& UThe 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. c# u3 Z& f) _5 x
( ` A7 n& L: P& s5 q; q; LThe 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. ) y7 f/ W/ s O% Q4 h+ j 1 b) q5 m+ x" I% W/ @) A; D. u& N5 w3 `; Y$ P# N4 ~& n( r
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Financial Times
