' E2 W2 v( `- n5 }4 m0 e$ W 4 @1 _7 z* h: X, q% c. V( r ~By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai # K7 M2 Z- c+ a3 r0 y
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 # H) f' ~; r' z, I) h
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 9 ?" h1 B! S) x . x5 ^' l% y! t/ E- A- uChina 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.. g& I4 e- j7 d1 a! p7 D
0 L6 `( [) Q$ f& n3 x4 JGovernment 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.' O' p% e; O" m7 k4 A
4 i) `4 Y! s6 k7 J0 _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.- i0 I: J k5 Q, @9 B5 c" d
# D! {# B1 @# M" j# M% |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.* J3 I8 U1 h0 o5 p" P. e
' V3 b$ Y3 p" v6 X- i( s( w8 tChina'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. 0 F! x' D" m5 @& ]3 F: ^. @ 8 x6 [% n' N4 B, Z0 S ~# @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. 0 Z' w; B4 A6 s1 Z t( t( G' h! Q; h+ g8 P' p6 r+ }
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. ' U, M' U, r6 O6 r & e, ^8 q/ u. y+ ^- [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.” 7 G- D7 \, U. c6 L& @; j. W8 b * f- T6 @3 T* h3 H: [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.! i- S. p6 c3 M) i1 Z7 E0 F& x) r4 ?
+ D8 u# I( J3 F4 E( l; xThe 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 @! e; A2 t, x3 _1 {
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Financial Times
