0 Q3 f; c# U. y% _ 2 j& _% e" A4 R a$ W3 @ k+ WBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION $ l2 _& e" f r' _9 l( V. d+ {. E- k; K e
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. ( A3 h9 e g% v( D' t: k3 B' k# O% O$ R4 r4 e8 f
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. H) R/ H1 S4 p# w) ?
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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., Q) D" i, D, k4 @" e
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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. & |: T: i1 U/ g# s6 z- f" H9 P# L' [) V
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.; J$ H- V, z& H3 p" ?8 K8 ~- \
! j3 m+ Q7 c1 A4 y& H3 Q% G/ hThe 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.+ H/ r: h6 l& G0 ~! `* W
. {- s+ H& v9 p, U& IThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”., {, P6 G7 P" _8 |0 z
: C$ w3 K- J% x+ T, x7 V: ]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.”1 V6 u! b! l$ ^: r+ P! C( R4 c
2 Y" Q3 X! _' `8 E, CThe 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.1 R$ g# K7 {3 b+ Y
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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. 9 `; {$ K7 w9 x* Y / f5 t1 d- S0 d: x3 I 5 `( l1 n& F4 w$ k2 \* r4 C1 d0 S5 i! r
Financial Times
