6 c7 S! _6 N6 v( P# M1 }! t2 CBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION# O1 o$ ?$ z! f: r7 u# l- i. v
. Y. W3 j1 w$ Y3 V" Z3 NChina 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./ @' h( _: R; z; k4 m) n
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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. - \" T5 b" K6 R0 U H+ V' N) M+ o+ Y5 ~8 ]# W# 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. , W) J3 h3 E" \, c$ _! | M ) @* n: S: b; d, D {) A/ G7 nThe 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. 0 Y- X6 ~+ M7 ]2 w / P, C9 ~8 w% i) E" F6 ~2 F) MChina'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.9 t' q8 @' y1 v( e7 s- R
+ p* H& Y% s: n0 }; K# nThe 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. " L+ H, S0 u' f4 k9 e4 R2 b! F( f5 U" p& ?- t
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.! B7 T6 b8 U6 L- M% B
% S8 c9 ~1 J( b; x6 eAn 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.” ; S" {+ y: V6 e$ @8 k7 a) A9 ] * h8 ^8 a: [ Y& cThe 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. 9 c1 U2 }7 z8 r0 t . l5 B6 c+ j5 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. / j& X: ^5 n, E: f' c ( g6 I1 x9 s( D/ T0 Q+ N" h 7 I# W3 s. o$ _& u% G0 R & M3 Z$ Z8 n1 aFinancial Times
