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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai + _' X G2 P4 d; r$ j1 X
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 % b4 G: \; H$ L! k, ? L7 w
/ X7 k/ E5 }& m% \$ T6 \6 ^ . k F+ \# ], ?. B% g9 H* `" VBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION% ?: J! c q0 q" ~3 S X
3 {% f3 _( a0 x! X# L6 IChina 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. - Y& `. [. F' I' r ^# I , R @" O+ g0 j# RGovernment 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 }" o# Y7 q% o- L+ V( g6 z' C" a8 [9 V) W! B) m8 F
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. {2 t5 R' H+ `4 }9 f/ y+ X
% d4 c$ `, \* O N, ~) C; sThe 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. - r& N7 c1 z8 t" g% d5 _& B$ L) @: R7 z, z$ e
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. 5 U( a6 ]# G+ M c- Z8 { : D S8 j! I" k& Z+ }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. 3 C5 ?. l' v. d6 m$ v3 x. W% S8 z% n1 O9 Q+ d" Y) S4 Z3 B x# K
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. d7 r9 V. y i2 C8 g& Y# A! M1 b/ K( s2 t- U- ]
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.” x. R% n; J( H3 j; X: L) y; c9 W }4 e% o8 B$ P. O: r/ y) T) F5 zThe 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. ! E+ t+ T, O9 E0 Y( z 9 V. H/ q6 H" t( \# H! c, o' j( k0 k. |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.: \: b$ D3 _ ~2 f! ~
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+ D7 T4 r# z3 ~- d: w ; r/ W, ?" A- P' |6 U3 eFinancial Times
