3 y" x9 d7 g8 _# ^5 s ; O* _! t3 k, P, HBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ' p! a8 S) Q3 w2 l4 ?& X
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 2 R% X4 x1 F+ Z- _0 D6 B- ]: u, F5 [0 x. D! j6 _
( `7 L. b4 j) Q
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 7 R8 \7 F/ p0 F8 N+ t7 T9 @ 7 I: p( U/ |' j7 N$ I$ @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./ t- ]3 {2 s% c. _ z
# C+ {; }; Z* S; m# a. S( b# oGovernment 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. 2 G* y+ N* z. I/ P- u , u- X y; \7 ?3 z* |/ A% T/ tComing 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.* X. c3 _# p a0 i! K
' R# t. l) T- f. n3 v3 x* Q$ P( }
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. : N; F; ~0 c4 P! f$ T* G( r) Q. N* J% o& M9 b9 Y8 E! y9 B
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. + Y) Z* D- e& l0 \ & U- e0 B6 a/ kThe 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.! l5 o- H; l" [7 ~/ z1 F' t9 }
8 N) i( c9 f4 k% A: rThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. ( k9 Z B+ A' `2 R' n$ ^3 { - r6 I! L' y- 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.”" E; [! ]7 d+ @. ]
. p$ X2 V5 k( _, n1 v: DThe 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. 0 v$ r+ u3 O9 u 0 M/ W# v# N" m K+ M6 z# }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.- H4 [! f+ e1 B4 v4 ]* [' Q* Q
7 O+ r/ v" z. w' o
7 [1 i. G7 v2 t/ n8 f9 ~% b
/ w" X3 j7 j# ]1 D% X% C' z
Financial Times
