" k4 h' P% k/ T8 {' b; ~By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai . F% ^! ^; ?% jWednesday, June 27, 2007 ; d9 I0 ]# {+ C9 M3 `: S* a: l 1 ~7 M- o q5 Z 0 |- h% n; M8 d1 VBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION / [( i2 n: n7 e: u9 N6 \9 R ! J. h6 |0 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.2 U+ b5 B5 _ I, w# W; m/ @
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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. # {8 R) L! s; @# H1 q; X3 p4 e7 F) q4 z& J3 Z% r% u9 ^$ s3 Y1 I
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.1 B, [5 W& X' c2 G8 M( J5 K0 Y/ K4 u. s
. f2 v# p* v7 v0 O9 \. R* DThe 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. 9 F9 P% v) h% |# N, I9 G 5 r/ Q0 u) g3 V) C5 ]. kChina'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. 9 D8 }, |6 ~. ]' ` H " B, L, `$ H( h2 A: fThe 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. 9 J5 A; R3 C- m0 f: k c8 p* e# g% n# f" F3 |- z+ Y) B/ Q4 Q
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”." U! |6 [; h, \+ f6 i4 D; L% t0 Y* E
, Q2 S3 @! O9 U8 f7 m, fAn 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.” " B; m* N! e9 s/ A+ M& ? * V2 _3 H) u# R n9 m( j6 E9 g" cThe 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 n5 l3 L, X
, M9 s) |( G9 w3 e6 m5 `4 sThe 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.6 M2 z R- D1 s8 ]
