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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai + o+ p; V* q3 A8 R) z& Z" tWednesday, June 27, 2007 6 y/ z% J! s) p4 i' y d+ }# y / O0 I* t5 k! F" g) [/ Y& i# ^* V5 r% p# a& R- z
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION, `# J: G* W i$ V% S l
2 K) i/ z9 r/ d: ]* B6 Z9 @* |) @ DChina 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& S# i1 g$ f9 y
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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. & {9 l V$ C7 S C4 C3 E$ v& m: g0 z! s1 ^
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." |4 M+ `; g! ~
; {5 ^/ {7 R3 ?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. * C- B. J l: T5 _ x6 }& U5 E8 d! j; q8 |5 ^- \* r
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.* S" C; n5 D! x1 d; ~0 j
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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. 0 A O) H3 X) @- C* m 8 m2 k, u$ m, f! _6 E& e: OThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. " ~ D+ D* `) o7 h, }. }* X0 w2 G7 ]9 b$ Y& i
An 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.” ; S! E2 A) P5 r+ X! q f8 W& V 7 N6 G$ C, b5 Q( ?% tThe 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. ) d: `% {3 ?" I8 L& a& L0 n2 i4 Z$ m! D1 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.# d* A1 Q, ~7 a1 b" O y
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* B4 x& n/ o" `6 m e . s* O. Q4 R" M- i. BFinancial Times
