& Z1 X6 X# x) m, s# i$ iBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 4 i) u ^2 T; v8 B% cWednesday, June 27, 2007 6 T+ Q# @4 v f! {
, a `& |# Q' K! C9 @ ; x" Q4 c; {" T5 L2 ZBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION( P9 S" l8 O: o. T
8 ~0 B. T, c7 q' ]. FChina 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. 9 I7 [, ?" F8 N: ^8 i5 P' q 0 Q& ?3 c6 ~( ^4 m- iGovernment 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.+ J% g* Q* T b {
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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. 2 k0 v. @7 K; J+ E% ]1 J0 d - d% _# c$ G4 j& y, [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. 6 f: G3 l7 a) E. ~4 r) u& }) O# h; \4 C" i( b
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.+ @- @# V6 n6 ~! k
+ n2 N3 W+ A7 n( R+ L, j7 f+ s0 WThe 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.! f9 k/ k& i7 l* D# e" l
9 ~/ m- T, ]$ {+ I: `5 H! @' U! [The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.2 r" ]" k. L0 x0 S0 o' J t
+ R4 ^ n6 @* j' _* zAn 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.” 8 c; |0 k5 W+ S( {' y9 I9 S4 w5 o, V& W5 O: j1 B2 l* l
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.0 D; G6 w8 |* b1 u& h3 m
2 x4 X8 R: X0 s2 T6 d. DThe 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.7 n5 b# ~5 J! b m4 m# V1 u; C# A
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Financial Times
