" q5 \; g; D( ^/ O8 [By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 9 a" y2 S% r) W* A6 iWednesday, June 27, 2007 # z) n0 ^. m) a
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 6 I( _! Z3 h" e7 l% R ! X" f$ l2 m' N1 x5 i7 W, o- kChina 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.* d- p* w! X& ^; y4 C4 ?+ I
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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.+ L) o& _* O& A) ]$ @
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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., i1 U$ o# e+ w' A# m
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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. / w! K2 H0 F) a1 X3 U( ^& k3 d4 \" D% u
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.# ~% f% m1 p b- S+ h- x
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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. 8 ~) x5 i; d$ H7 P$ w* I2 u 1 E8 p" d: e, U3 bThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. $ s. k( q0 D+ A* n* Q8 m7 Q, y8 U$ \- T* L
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.” # X2 Z# J% f5 e+ n4 F4 g& A: u* j( U- l
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. / R/ t1 l* s5 e. _0 C, D6 j7 H: S4 Q6 F$ n; A3 L
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. 2 a- i% m1 Y3 D# s' i. s9 _9 [9 j4 w$ R% n, g
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