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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai - ^; A2 H+ n$ J5 z
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 8 U. i+ Q. \: r" r3 I9 T . I* a+ |6 r' K) }, }; j! O7 P( m; Z( D/ |" z( U* e
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 7 {6 [3 z. T# o& [ ~* R& [( U# L# Q8 D& D' S' N
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.0 |! A' _) P7 K1 w
2 L0 D3 j6 J3 MGovernment 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. 3 `& v- J6 |% E6 S3 p7 ]$ e9 _$ t4 A5 N0 Z9 u4 }; \' R
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.8 O. J* \ y& }; ]& z" W
* ]) e6 x! G# }+ E. s8 o. RThe 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.' X8 [. ]$ H6 W: k1 b' M5 @" z
: Q2 z- y, Q5 l8 KChina'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.# T# l# U9 y& b! w5 L
0 k' R( D* g! `5 ~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.! Y& C# p" j$ C- p- w
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. . k& X% x+ }6 x* S9 G ]( a8 M: e 9 y: ~" G- P, f7 f& ?" FAn 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.”: k8 N; l) N! g/ i, L
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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. : L0 d1 T. S* F$ A+ m6 H9 d g% T& _& _- s0 U- p5 V
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. ) i5 ~" {. t+ ]* B; n- H" b- ?0 h* E# |1 v7 u* |
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Financial Times
