3 c9 g, i) A: b+ e- d8 l* XBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai + p$ L, n% N) Q! E
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 1 o* @; _+ M2 I2 X* e |9 K* s/ e: g" w* i' S0 p- B x
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION. ~$ @/ \4 S. o# m( t; O3 f( E- @
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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. $ D) z U4 c* W' i0 ?1 }/ Y0 r2 Q& Q ! U+ K& f% i; Y5 S- yGovernment 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.. Q+ h; A" D; l5 }5 t& }' M) h+ n
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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.5 @* ?9 O- N0 [% A
' ]; D+ e' c" o( L+ O. L8 EThe 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 e) w$ o2 i& A' ~
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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. 4 j3 Y5 W; p- [( H: I' g, d5 ?; Y( |' m
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.+ u8 b) C! a! I* c8 s
# s/ Z! H! v& w) L+ p YThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.0 s( _7 ` C2 H' ]( x) s; G& N
; i/ \( B4 x# Z* ?7 g. B5 kAn 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.”6 k1 Q2 D5 i+ I+ O% S
; [/ f! C( z2 _! Y/ rThe 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.# x `, G) f7 I+ x
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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.4 _7 H/ n; M; f
