$ T3 U3 _, {7 E3 b. _ & a( R6 V f8 T5 N2 E0 m2 Q/ |By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 8 H a( ^! l/ ]9 a. iWednesday, June 27, 2007 - z2 ^$ f4 w/ l0 c" d1 Z3 P3 b 0 X/ N5 q, t% j5 j* N; X6 p3 t5 J9 N" u
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION* A9 R* S, F6 ^' ^! F+ g
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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.- Z3 ~( H2 |6 \) i% c
' ?8 R# {) A& D- r& 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.. {9 F" Q+ Q, ~& r$ _
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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.4 ]! |; V; O. t
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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.4 e& g* n4 n! s( e4 @, o# ]
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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.0 B: E# m- {6 N
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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." ]- [* y) M% t) A! K, D
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.# N! {' B; }( i; c. A# C0 p
& v. \# p- p& e7 H4 t2 M# uAn 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.”0 Z" w' |, |# |* @
: x% S! t8 ^+ ?7 a* oThe 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. 7 ^* X6 y! |6 I7 L G$ R, R% F* a 5 }& _: r0 _. s' Q4 o3 m+ i, cThe 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. , n9 ]; W( r7 p- X4 g* T( N z4 [1 ~1 J; l( d+ ~ + A6 m5 m1 ?9 c& m' U 5 q2 N: a: \9 [( ^Financial Times
