6 h" {& O! H, F: I) `' G6 J % c6 S) v+ [5 MBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 3 p3 i. |6 T8 s% S
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - s0 Z5 w. h5 x# [5 L* ` _% M; @) m" G# C5 @6 ~4 ^5 s
% W5 q! Z0 P5 O/ i5 u+ ^4 f5 oBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION M( R. Z5 C9 I0 q9 v9 L+ [
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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. * J0 R, P$ j- I* N% `$ @+ N- J K8 l+ Y1 N
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. ! y0 C: q$ R! O/ s) Y ) o- k; x: F3 DComing 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. 2 A5 s0 t, P3 K; Z3 I7 p 7 [2 D: F/ c& B$ AThe 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. Y9 ^' s$ X9 ]
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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.' l4 G) C$ w$ c0 A
8 }) P1 q1 f3 TThe 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 ^' s. i) k- o6 U8 w# g, c7 D9 S 7 N( V7 o; b- W' ^; H& \- B/ ^' ?The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. 4 u g" }. y5 n8 \" a' z3 a+ j% Z4 l$ K4 Z. P7 \+ r
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.” 3 t* E5 o, _. _. q+ B6 L1 g6 R/ @+ K! {( \+ e+ }
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.( g8 ~% t/ j9 O8 o* ?
' A! C' B+ {# ~9 `: NThe 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 Y% z) I& M: i' Q9 B- {/ I* w , x9 L% Q( p6 ?' E* g * L c) K/ m) ^/ D4 y* K7 m2 U/ O# k Y
Financial Times
