4 `( v3 F% Q2 mBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION % `3 O$ r0 _5 C, p8 Y8 z2 W" \' } : }! p' g4 K# ]' G' Q3 x5 i8 x5 QChina 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. & O) }7 X" b5 J+ h# c% y, m5 ~1 r' `
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. , V0 D- k& D& J0 J. H 0 M; u8 K- @9 H. O/ j- y, s0 vComing 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. : C9 d) G% a, U% L) i+ s9 t0 |# O2 P, A0 I* }3 ^& f
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. % y% T' N- s& \/ G* ~1 i + ? f/ N; R9 N9 r9 o1 ?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.+ w, R2 t, s* j# E1 k+ u
- R0 K& y% r; s I
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./ [- A7 s- ~+ K# k9 {# `6 z/ ^5 m
; V; d8 t" y" }$ S3 y' rThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.) P1 u0 _3 |7 t, A
6 O/ _8 f- f, H/ G B+ S$ H" f
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.”! {; D# A3 h0 N( B; P
6 y3 A h! a/ E! Y9 h9 p8 W2 `- c
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.3 m* ~9 x# t, j* f. s! y8 z0 i
6 z8 O$ d) C' YThe 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.# H2 r1 n0 L8 Z
7 \4 C ]( z. q6 i7 S5 o9 _4 j
; N/ } {$ O3 p# u
