0 V0 Y9 X* g) d/ W3 j# w 5 C! F4 M1 r& e5 z R1 QBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 8 P5 W# e5 f/ K0 F
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 ! S; p" l+ z4 e
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/ }1 p) r$ `9 T( e t3 A- FBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION+ a' m, P; d% @* x* M, @5 y f# t2 Q
- _& {. o( i1 x. `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. ) q/ S5 O5 }& s ! T/ W% _0 A( s/ C! E) IGovernment 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.$ ?$ h* q/ u9 D' l1 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. + `) i# \9 a ?* o / c6 N. h, L; F" ]4 R7 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. : h) ~. \+ U) E. A y+ ^+ O: k9 Y$ P+ B* yChina'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.; q5 \! P* Y- r4 }9 h; t1 s
+ j1 ^6 _6 V8 B9 G* ~1 }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. Q* c$ ^4 A% q) ^' z) E2 ^% \/ A' V5 G; Z* E2 G' b
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.& S7 ]8 W6 u/ W9 w6 T/ [9 ~
% E; v- E% z( A& F. 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.”, O) \8 r5 K2 I) o% [/ O; D) e4 t! a
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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. $ k1 D+ R5 S1 J" y) @7 Z [/ p7 g2 n* x1 Y5 K
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. ! M' H/ P. U* A5 h4 U' P; o1 T/ ~( C3 `; F+ x4 G7 _
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Financial Times
