# r8 ?% C& z, o* g0 T2 U$ \ @ } % ?9 z8 f8 z( K' c& o; QBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION2 Q L. v1 T( b$ G7 ^* P/ w" q* a3 X+ d
8 i5 B( }' ]/ n6 n& sChina 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.9 l- P7 D$ a: Q1 {6 D5 u) [* l
4 {2 D/ \& x+ T+ J% D* g' ~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./ e$ u- D6 z+ N* F# e: \: W
9 V+ |6 |9 n+ t- ^/ R' y+ L3 M; DComing 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.; s2 k7 I0 f" m$ B# j& Z8 [) c
n! y' J5 R3 Q* q: r. ?( t$ 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. ) d4 S- X6 z, k: V' f. w" p% @# s$ a7 p" s' f% z: |
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. ' W5 V' k' P# \ 0 A5 R* I! E6 u; ]* i. [0 H! `8 IThe 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. . e8 p4 }0 D5 J/ l' V6 ] S0 J% q 8 I7 M5 V2 T* e8 IThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.3 ~7 k |0 }1 f
* U1 A5 H/ j' [0 z2 ~: yAn 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 s% n9 T, F( a" o) ]3 `+ @; @% @
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. Z: j8 c+ i1 d+ k3 V8 r% X3 G0 F* B ]$ q0 {
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. h1 g4 P0 C/ }3 N) q- [
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