3 d$ ~& U5 r+ J6 \) IBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai |$ ` I8 A6 i; ~/ F' I4 W9 [+ W) f
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 ! Z! N2 k3 }* Z6 [7 K+ N% W7 h* J5 r; s& G
4 a# |1 i/ ?1 e- ^) c t1 v3 n0 L' GBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION : i4 }* f0 @4 F& { ! f$ D1 y- c5 ^1 v3 Y$ o( \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.4 {( Y: {4 G+ @# d( z
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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.; s. I! t% k' h
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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. 0 D4 l1 M# G7 p7 k" K a7 Q; T2 c' z( B4 g& R: Y
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. h5 u/ u# U0 |8 R2 N {; ?. v7 ^2 V4 v/ U
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. 7 {9 n$ @2 S$ E( q. u# q) d& e7 a* d' W
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.1 o0 {$ O/ g& \: t) N) s+ D
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. - ]7 K/ T: E/ {1 n4 S- s / ^1 [- [* D4 c! Z4 W# m5 HAn 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.”+ |3 q3 o8 q5 J1 E; f
. p o( \) r1 ~# L0 wThe 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. " ^ N2 O3 z" M+ b: c% t, @( B. f2 H# c6 i+ R, c9 C( B
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. 1 D1 [) M, q; \9 `: O$ F2 e3 s% y" M9 h) \, Q
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Financial Times
