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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 8 _# ]5 D+ k, b& h& {) ^9 Y1 c
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 . X4 [3 r1 ^+ H6 |$ ` \
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION/ H0 q7 b' E, i* d4 r& w
* U0 A* e$ E$ C, x: Y/ HChina 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. ' d g* K8 B$ r* m: j2 l & F% b$ ?* A* |) ]9 ~, g$ `1 a YGovernment 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. 0 V2 X; Z" N, R" O0 n& B! S1 G* ~( ^2 p$ B" H
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.! R: }" e# j. d2 o9 G# |0 Q
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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. 6 J9 ?6 J1 I0 |' F! ?+ P! H- I. q$ ^8 F" p4 n
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. . u% e9 ?4 O8 H6 J# X+ @% T6 w8 E- |' | / `2 |8 m8 x$ x- r" W5 WThe 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 R+ q i; a, G, |$ W3 a5 B
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. B% g, @5 n1 E+ |5 c
/ {4 G/ {! k' S5 C3 a8 @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.” 6 n" [5 [$ Q) c( c, N9 S/ X 8 u5 |6 v) D* N6 l3 MThe 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. ! w3 s7 `* a# \/ {$ P6 b& X! |9 Y
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. 9 u A& O7 W9 b% u * ~" P! ?5 m/ A# f& M, |! k- w# o5 J
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Financial Times