1 {8 m+ ^+ Q0 E; S + m/ ]4 ]8 C: B' |+ vBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ! s- ]+ c: l- f( m9 ]4 k# pWednesday, June 27, 2007 $ n \6 R9 b1 ^! K$ s$ M# O2 o6 S
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r Z# w) |1 s, d3 gBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION) h8 f+ @( b0 G! ?6 c7 b
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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. 1 `( o n. b( c/ ]; Y+ A. M# a2 s
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.$ i. s6 A# f0 N ]/ T$ m% X) p$ ^
$ Y2 \# x- D- ?5 I( ^: wComing 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. 8 G) ]6 R7 _& ?0 K0 B6 o4 p* S( t* i) o, t& E
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.0 s y' B# B, j2 w
& r* k$ x, t' X& }- p& l; n9 ^( WChina'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., q {* H* q2 {- |$ ~
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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. 1 A& Q1 d( Q5 J6 c1 i7 ?) q7 R; @( E& U7 v1 s% A1 F8 B/ d5 ` x! N
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. 5 b/ c' n3 y/ `4 R" Z4 \ 5 j. q5 d2 [! P6 j- L d7 kAn 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 e) m2 M7 L/ ~: @
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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.9 ]; [- p4 W+ I# o& N
6 D! ]4 v& `. ~' ZThe 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., k% A+ ]! Z9 b$ H9 Y
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Financial Times
