, _( L6 Y. w6 M7 n* Q9 p! `By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai : {. H2 o3 t" k% B* W1 |
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 : A) S; }& [) x3 L& P ! ?* K$ O7 E- a, ^0 Y ' Y8 j7 \* h/ B( n# C; ^. `, oBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION! p0 c; d$ L& j! Q- P
Z: P$ u1 g7 k1 X9 ?6 hChina 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. 6 t. W) V8 L1 U2 X2 W' s# [0 \6 _5 ~" q& [& X1 h0 w8 f) G ~
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. k2 V' z; j6 d8 M, s" x 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.( j) d' D# e5 I. p& ?- @5 u8 N
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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.1 L! e5 ]1 A' P
5 S' ~# X& _# P+ O% K( pChina'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. ( V( Y+ U: p8 G4 y) g / K" ]4 q" q0 }5 j- \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. 8 S3 H3 G( q/ X4 a7 } m" ^4 }: X- W# ]" O, q$ d' J9 O
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”./ @& ~5 X; }! x2 }# _
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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.”$ o: |& E, F2 S" ?4 l9 V
6 N _; s8 W1 U+ L. nThe 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 ^1 t; O& U+ w7 \4 E
& a* N- z2 o( @, }4 e/ i) pThe 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.8 j# n* \& C% J# C S; Q5 Z
" X: g: m; t' \# g - i6 Z: ^% b: z) { 9 W8 ~. H2 \- h5 u( u* tFinancial Times
