9 i% j3 [# b4 I8 J * ^. P/ b3 I P6 r: \4 CBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai & C5 X$ U8 C$ B! \# O0 q* }
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 0 r# ^8 q. X9 f" ^4 }- e2 |- l$ H! S0 z/ I0 N
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION & W% E5 N, D- a0 \( @/ f2 |" S9 b6 C, X0 I7 z1 ?
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. 8 S: z& L0 G( P0 _; E) b' j- U) j( U5 M8 z" q/ _% \
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. 0 w) f/ d: {* q: ^/ ]6 A4 U7 R$ l: j( M+ e+ Z, f
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.8 m, g1 |# C! p7 o
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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.; U+ @8 Q$ g) d. a
5 }" Y# _* k9 ~ T8 s9 i: qChina'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. 6 ^7 H0 W+ f$ `7 A& [, m+ ~! h2 c0 e, P0 `" N% |3 q* C
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.- e' M5 x8 p9 _5 q$ e) `
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. + Y: G# `9 [9 Z/ b( S* K# H# b; s2 d" W; ? B
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.”5 W2 C5 W ?/ \+ X8 Q( |! i# j0 Y% y
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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.% C h; y A2 T
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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. # S6 V( N9 S' M# R# j* y. e! Q1 T' {* p8 N4 T9 n( T' \. X
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