e; `5 ~0 M$ Z% ]7 n) I' HBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ; u- _! y" S5 W o7 WWednesday, June 27, 2007 ( t1 ?$ S8 T% w' k2 y' X M U4 D+ x7 D( d- c
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION3 e* c( G- S) Q9 m8 F
$ R/ j/ {$ z0 f/ ]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." j A& h6 t' Y( V5 ~5 q+ n* b
- B5 b. U v- A: z+ U R! ZGovernment 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. * e3 O7 K3 l" W4 Q& ~, `4 n) O5 w5 N
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.& O! {' Y: ]6 c; ?' i, V4 n1 D* I
1 J3 h9 K1 S( I$ |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. # L: l* A7 y1 i' l& ? ' t4 u) Q, v: N' h8 k0 SChina'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. 3 @7 a9 n. _9 P4 h: P+ P U6 ]# R3 M7 A2 w3 H: K+ h2 l0 Q( m
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.2 z( f: m; w: W; i
3 D1 C. }; K0 w+ h: j$ rThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.) _4 |8 D. h) |
8 W5 |0 t# _# R+ O, b" IAn 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.”2 {# ^9 I5 b- l+ N
# A9 J9 j9 V L% \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. 1 W& N! w0 R* \2 r+ k 0 W. C0 B( ^; L1 i h+ P: MThe 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. ! r: Z( i5 D) R4 S& K3 q- o! D9 s) n3 G5 i1 z3 W
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Financial Times
