+ c; S' e# r( N* e4 E, f B ) B% _$ q: T; E1 d1 u7 W7 h5 @/ Q: ABy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 3 b8 w4 ]5 \, ~3 g* wWednesday, June 27, 2007 2 R4 N x) E' _! h 9 H9 M: R8 B" M: ^: ^5 U( J6 Y0 P. q3 }+ @4 Z1 [" `, C
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 4 N& p- ^( d/ d+ \( I. B 3 q% ^2 S0 P8 |* pChina 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. ! h$ ~( l _5 g% X/ K5 f$ u; u. A, @ h8 k$ V4 u$ Z& M0 {& g% y
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.5 b# V' ?4 }0 L8 R
1 O/ W* R5 n2 E- b" f1 K# l
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. " F9 t7 t1 O& h+ M! N9 N4 @# I6 s; b3 ^3 S! J& x8 ~
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.. \; M4 T+ F" K! h. y, h3 X0 W9 X
; Z* T1 |' E/ B$ g- g; zChina'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.+ p, F- k! q( a# {" z7 X$ w
1 ?, D. W6 n% E! h1 N8 YThe 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. 7 T+ q9 I4 f2 W4 v5 ^4 k: ?! R* w' K- e) O
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.( `- g# a, @6 X1 @- [
0 }. K9 F$ U1 U# i7 z% `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.”& n1 n; h& V1 U0 `7 _9 C8 k7 K
' F) b- P; J5 e7 e; P' HThe 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.! h) M, g. ?% t. \8 i
# f. _( i' }( Z s; g( p3 G# g$ m
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. ' y: q" w# z+ E1 x8 X( h& q4 g# E( W
& i! t4 s0 N; h: L0 Y! i
$ S9 f. T: _) V: `. d
Financial Times
