$ F6 H2 b3 ]$ a: s% S2 e7 F4 L" R" \BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION : v$ _1 G, R# o& L- N! J$ C( H) w3 Y5 z. h0 l! t& Q% e; w
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.* D8 b& j5 }5 E4 V+ K
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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. ; v% K0 F. X9 `0 g7 [! r ; A# D, d6 z- C' ~4 [5 _% xComing 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.$ A; ~+ r3 |" m1 C T7 \
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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.% u9 c' W2 | h# F
. e. ^$ X1 \' {* `! \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. 2 j' G( h; ?7 d, P; c J, D' \! S) ] r1 s
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. 4 s) ]5 {* Q* F$ ^3 \! c$ B% V/ f; @* R5 _
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.$ b$ T0 s5 r; I. Q
: x- x7 G2 Z9 O/ w8 L9 h0 W6 LAn 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.” / i- c! O6 Y$ ^! L: u9 j ' o X% @+ i# @- YThe 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. 8 ~( ]9 O K1 |1 Q 7 J# {* C" `6 y% a* _. \( Q1 fThe 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 `+ S C0 @; a/ X, i" `# C - I! i6 B, q/ l& g+ I$ \0 V- I 3 I+ v& L5 J! Q. W, }* e) N + _5 q! j5 k: h2 T7 v5 W$ BFinancial Times
