Originally posted by ^tamago^:
[b]China steps up scrutiny of US food, delaying
shipments
BEIJING - CHINA has sharply increased inspections of imported US
food, escalating its spat with Washington over product safety and
leaving American beef piling up in warehouses and delaying
shipments of black pepper and other goods.
Authorities who used to inspect as little as 5 per cent of imported
goods now check every shipment of American poultry, snack foods and
other products, companies and trade groups say.
'I suspect they are doing this to keep the pressure on the United
States to relent on some of these (food safety disputes), because
the US is taking a very tough stand on Chinese products,' said
James Rice, the China country manager for Tyson Foods, the world's
largest meat processor.
Chinese authorities banned chicken imports from two Tyson plants in
June after salmonella was found in shipments from them, Mr Rice
said. But he said the company, which sells about US$200 million
(S$306 million) worth of chicken to China every year, still was
allowed to import from its 167 other facilities.
The stepped-up inspections are the latest in a tit-for-tat between
Washington and Beijing after a series of large-scale product
recalls - from bad pet food to dangerous toothpaste and toys -
raised scrutiny of Chinese-made products in the US.
Rejected pork
On Saturday, Beijing said it rejected 18.4 tons of American pork
because it contained ractopamine, a drug that is used by US hog
farmers to produce leaner meat but is banned in China.
The United States restricted imports from China of five types of
seafood in July after tests found unapproved drugs - a move that
Beijing criticised as improper and excessive.
The tougher Chinese inspection regime is forcing importers and
retailers to adjust shipping and delivery schedules, though so far
they say the delays have not harmed their bottom lines.
But the moves add to tensions in a relationship that is strained by
China's multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United
States.
Chinese officials have suggested the US government might be using
safety concerns as an excuse to block imports from China.
Major market for soybeans and chicken
China is a major market for US soybeans and chicken, and sales of
citrus, beef and processed food also are growing.
It is unclear how much US food has been rejected in China's latest
campaign or whether the rate has increased. China's product safety
agency, the Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine, did not respond to a request for comment.
The agency, known as AQSIQ, said in June it would step up
inspections of US food for chemical or biological
contamination.
It cited the discovery of excessive bacteria and sulfur dioxide in
raisins, dried oranges and health care products from several
American companies.
Mr Rice said all of Tyson's shipments are now inspected. Employees
of the US egg and poultry trade group and a Chinese importers'
group gave similar accounts, as did employees of two Chinese food
companies.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, shipments of US beef bound for China's mainland are
piling up in refrigerated warehouses while they await inspection,
said John Nam, program director in Hong Kong for the US Meat Export
Federation, a trade group. Mr Nam said he had no information on the
extent of the increased inspections.
'Over the past two months, we saw that plenty of shipments to China
have stayed quite a while in Hong Kong warehouses, which means
turnaround time has been lengthened,' he said. -- AP
they never learnt their lessons. 
[/b]
they did similar action onto Indonesia export. PRC Gov are noted
to return favor....in any case when chinese new years come than you
see they would import all the food stuff. The problems i see is
that for a country so huge it import more raw material than it
could produce.