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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 2 ]* K0 g# p& a5 P: c+ J
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - \ Z9 _' j! [7 h( X, \
! e: C* P+ x! y$ `) B& G0 D ' m' a" B% M! C- r ^( i4 Z1 IBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION ; o; v8 f/ o5 z$ z4 `, B# _- O$ F: l2 P+ P# a6 I
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.+ n0 p4 K [. V) P$ y1 q7 a4 a4 C; z0 k
! F5 v, Q8 J9 Z0 o! D5 w8 |$ j" _8 ?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.9 v0 T: J; \$ K4 l' J
( l9 O, h0 u% X1 _# t4 nComing 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 f4 R& W0 o% o8 L9 Z
! O- h* C2 z7 o) GThe 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.$ a d; l7 a( `
0 G7 [& R- P7 I0 e7 X" jChina'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. 4 [! a* k+ I6 w6 b: I- g Q. {4 U* M4 X$ z' x* l/ C$ K
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. 4 W! T/ F6 W4 ]9 H1 x . z2 g8 i7 |7 e* s9 TThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.. ?4 Q8 j6 D* J4 Q
4 N( P0 t3 b- X. v' mAn 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.” 7 C- ]2 h. D! q4 o% b! H$ P : T- r6 m6 M6 dThe 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.6 }7 H/ N# L! f& ?: O
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The 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./ i6 b7 K% L0 C. m$ s
