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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 6 A- \" A: R1 x% OWednesday, June 27, 2007 : S# h1 L8 P9 `$ w# f 8 @; y- w4 f$ h- j# ~# F3 d9 C / I7 H# ?9 \' T5 p, fBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION( S3 y, m3 k& u- R0 K6 s! ~
( Y" v8 Z- R. Y- S6 t/ I5 ^+ WChina 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.( h z2 ?, i5 c5 Z0 c- C" S
# P6 N* j% S$ SGovernment 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. 7 J5 |7 a$ U' U8 M7 _) k6 v W1 g- d# r7 P8 D
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. # I) P4 D' i4 h+ f; V0 I+ |9 a7 J
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. 3 [2 j: k# c1 R( S5 R O1 V( c( L6 n! O' s9 I
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. ; P0 W: X8 J4 i ( m) o, V3 e. V, m0 `! u+ DThe 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. / d- J! |9 }) x2 \& `) K- c5 v' \4 m7 y8 z1 E% H& Z1 ^* d. i6 x
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. + l% K2 M" h1 D: n& ? ?2 ]/ j( f" j! M! M# F. D8 W
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.” U3 A* w/ A4 z) x% w! k5 y
) E$ p. h7 r5 O; r& f& H* oThe 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. . y/ A# K, b% h4 ^+ a* o9 ^9 ^1 N( h / @* n/ ]% O7 ^5 u. 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.- Z1 a( ?* a- N/ W. ?4 A
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Financial Times
