) Q4 I3 S) G2 c ' B# x. s; o' iBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 2 d. N; I" w& T) K, A" [% Z# d2 G+ \
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 ( R: s/ b2 Q) A0 k5 Y) ]6 l) n 3 R% k0 X, {8 |+ N- [) ~, O: s . Z9 j9 ^- e, z' oBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION" k& v) n" y+ ~; O/ v
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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.: n! I( v8 c, n2 |
& R0 P9 F I* j9 B( KGovernment 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.# R" W/ |1 _! K
* w" Q% v6 n: _2 kComing 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." l6 T5 } T; k. C5 p+ S
" Y. c2 M) z. e8 _. V' RThe 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. : `, @9 _6 Y9 ~6 `* \ + e# C5 S- K9 ^! ^% MChina'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. , B7 @1 g8 p7 F7 f* V5 W T8 y$ e& H. x& p( M+ g
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. 6 c$ ^2 \4 ?4 `, |$ c% H6 j, w& O ' J0 ?( t- x6 W* @; Q* kThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.1 H1 h5 L4 Q5 f/ n8 D1 {% t, E8 z
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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.” 4 E/ E$ M5 o6 d9 t8 T1 P# a4 \) y( @" Q8 G: T/ Q' ?* V
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. - }' q3 u* `: f1 \8 V s/ i; Y1 `; e
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. 5 D. x1 @" {4 n B1 T( [1 w: z% j/ a9 ]4 R
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Financial Times
