7 Q" q9 E5 H QBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION * T1 k3 o$ ]2 Q5 V0 I6 @$ i: i! D5 `8 t. v: l: O
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. 9 v4 ~4 C3 G3 p+ r/ Z2 p/ d. |( }- a# L# s: v
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. ; E7 e% x) ]8 a8 W2 L# v ~, v; C+ p2 o9 K: dComing 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 y" n) d9 b! q: d9 w, p
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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 R) `7 h: c, |' ^% d3 d1 K' r1 w
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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.. i2 B' [) |4 u" L% q
- g: b. l: Q* g% v$ d" DThe 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.; }+ \) J: o- q
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.. v& Q; ~8 \3 _! x5 d
1 J: \+ f0 ^; Z4 Z8 WAn 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.” & {, C. x# @( s. {9 @7 y9 H; @# F$ d* p6 F7 P
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.' w# Q) ?- ?9 T, P' s* G
( E% g( D; ]8 i7 qThe 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. ' g, a+ E. x2 t2 D* |) C) s) G* K) i( E( y' D% z% R1 ^
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Financial Times
