$ @, f; \4 h/ D' @ t* J% E4 [By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai * c- o4 T" H% u% {# U, s- \Wednesday, June 27, 2007 % Q/ Y6 R, K' a
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION/ R$ w* \8 P, T- q
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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. 7 g# ?, A/ @0 @( v- M0 j5 h1 n3 L$ P+ d- v
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.. ]6 h( G" t% {, x! 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.) D5 Z k5 Q. {+ {! ]3 J
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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.! p9 N' v1 ^0 W% L1 Q
. _. x1 X, L" i4 ^8 uChina'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.* _ K0 W) V3 T" ]8 y' C
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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.* V7 n! u; [ Q/ C! ^7 j' a
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. I5 r! ]9 ~8 G( ~' r; j ! H; c3 w- W1 Z8 NAn 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.”% P! P7 v( h3 H( r4 Y
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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. ; j, r, n4 p% w6 C7 b5 D) [$ D! p6 a# ~ h
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.1 U% [) o, K: W3 M
( Z5 _+ h( n- z 8 B( |' U8 J* G# b/ \# J$ i- [' M 9 n" L7 ]/ Y/ g3 D" S3 VFinancial Times
