* i- ?6 I& T' b4 r# p# N1 z 5 i. w; e4 J% _9 `; F' W- kBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai , ~/ b% E O# U6 v
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 5 d% B' t, s" S0 k
) |% `3 |. H) j7 x% ] 2 ? |' l% ]2 _/ G% h% SBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION5 h; y4 N+ c! |& a$ U8 T9 Z
8 ?4 e U. [% \! K @1 q6 PChina 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.* F3 u1 Z2 I+ b& {$ `! A% [
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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.# j" ]" O3 r8 j8 k4 m$ U- E: }
& X7 g% y- Y. h) UComing 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 f% ?; i) V' U 0 l! R' {4 ]5 F/ DThe 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.# p& S$ u; g' ~3 l" I) V1 r$ z$ E6 d
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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. " {$ j8 h- X/ S' i) I' S8 b7 Y- @3 M5 s
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. ! s5 x0 t: ~3 @ V0 Z. c( B+ U k6 y* ]+ Q) ^: R! v5 K
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.$ z" @* B$ K/ T0 w, C4 U* z4 ?
3 ?0 J! S- r P" LAn 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.”& q9 g" g, l) n
- D; C' h5 S* H# j4 p BThe 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. , I: \1 R5 g( \, u9 T# w' Z4 a& o) @$ t- K2 _% v
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. , D6 G6 Z, t" v' P. A1 [9 l: N8 s- L0 _0 p
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Financial Times
