Chinese government throws product safety issues back at U.S. again
The U.S.-Chinese tit for tat atmosphere over the safety of imported goods shows no signs of dissipating after Beijing on Thursday called many shipments of U.S. soybeans to China 'suspect.'
The government asserted that U.S. soybean shipments included 'hazardous weeds such as sorghum halepense and iva xanthifolia that could threaten China’s farm production, forestation and ecological safety,' according to the Xinhua news service, based on a release from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Web site. 'The imported soybeans also had soil clods containing pest which poses threats to China’s soybean production.'
The report said that in February, Chinese product safety groups have also called into question the pesticides used by U.S. soybean growers.
In a totally unconnected industry, the report also said China had returned 272 U.S.-made heart pacemakers after they failed quality inspections.
Of course, the timing of these safety concerns could be considered quite ironic, coming hot on the heels of a host of concerns from U.S. safety regulators over Chinese-made pet food and toys, among other products.
In Beijing 272 pacemakers evidently equals 9 million toys.