# O8 [! e7 u$ N7 h2 x - x+ [* R5 s! _7 n; k' \" i7 |BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION |2 f" C" ^" `( z, ] 7 P* s$ R. G- W3 N6 t# i4 o. W1 c) N8 QChina 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.; `* L4 }+ z9 _+ i ~4 }
9 O7 o; O/ K* y6 QGovernment 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. * h9 E, _; ~7 @7 R5 H3 X x6 |: e1 n% T5 j& r7 O- D6 A7 A
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.- Y2 q& t& p* @+ G# Y7 t& U
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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.% T. ~$ v) _! h; E$ z
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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. ~: z% l, n7 P1 b# ^6 Y9 f- K3 ?+ X& p' ^7 r4 r7 L; V4 E
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." t- _9 z; O4 |' V, ?
7 T {0 @6 J3 t' R A" V/ _/ d0 `The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.7 [( D+ U/ C4 N" Z8 P" _
! S7 o& E. [- H: n. e* l0 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.” 1 {( q" S6 n# H7 v# f$ n0 p1 i, K 1 k& o, S- O# p1 I& h" R' _# {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. $ x1 A/ R: w4 b. @ / w6 n o: m6 w H& |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. $ u: m* J* P) o5 v$ p4 w: y, s4 q6 T* w. }5 i) ^0 b
2 c, G5 a# \* o0 B . G" T7 C& }2 M$ f# }; G% i; g( GFinancial Times
