( V- F' W. j4 [, h( V" pBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 4 `/ Y' B0 a' c; r) x; e7 t $ Z0 W7 y S- f: VChina 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. A# \& P$ |. q+ S @3 m : |+ e6 ^% b4 {/ `8 F7 u3 O) rGovernment 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. ' D* \3 I4 R8 ^2 s+ E" h+ O$ e$ z* N
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.9 o5 n& y: I) X- m* v0 n6 P6 D
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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. ' w5 d% I) c2 T5 ?, |8 S2 ` 3 V/ ?7 p, w; D& lChina'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." S. ~( {5 S# Z/ X! U
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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. , A0 h- B6 \5 H: y; G0 A7 i9 r8 @7 D9 w8 \( c& j$ r# b7 {
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. 7 o8 @2 I# K! ?; M7 \& |+ W6 @ : Q# R+ ^8 p8 o# G( ]6 U9 [* UAn 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.”5 m" P% v( A) W& l! v; h% f% v
7 }8 s# z9 \9 A6 f9 u/ C# {! dThe 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. ( W" h$ ]/ ~( D2 d& O+ l: U* ?2 H4 E2 _) w( K! B$ ^
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.6 z0 x Z! L8 z) p: }2 v& b' q
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Financial Times
