5 I; p& Q- F% F7 w- u3 a: g& N- RBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ) ^8 O& ~; ?7 G& w5 Q0 ?$ w$ mWednesday, June 27, 2007 : {: o% U/ [. @# V! B
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; K* A c8 ]# y- ]" V6 G$ \BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION # p ]1 K( Z) d$ \2 G B1 a! |( A # h. X, e, n# w( L- N' N8 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.5 t- Q" P0 a: o5 h. L$ A
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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./ D S) A+ N6 T7 C
5 h6 G' q' b q. e' m# q6 qComing 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.& i& r7 K! h2 B6 L; L2 S' P
9 K/ _: h* Y" M: iThe 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. 8 F! `' F5 {$ P2 }, @( S; n* L. G- x6 K8 @7 L
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.1 M/ b& r Y; F) W+ u& d
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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." j! v2 Y: H1 Y q- ^- c
6 x7 F W c5 V7 KThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. # V1 i) [# z, Z2 h) ]9 H2 s. M/ y$ w, [* K) q
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.” / j6 D' K- z: D7 t& ^, s$ ~ 5 ?; s8 Y' F, ]) _& F YThe 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. 3 T# L+ m- F, F1 X1 _0 v % V' G# C" E. P- WThe 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.% o/ ]3 @& ^( n
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