China bans Irish pork on dioxin scare

By Chen Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-09 07:32

The government has banned imports of all pork products from Ireland after dioxin, a carcinogenic chemical, was found in some of them, the country's quality control watchdog said on Monday.

About 2,047 tons of Irish pork products, imported since Sept 1, will be recalled from the market and returned to Ireland, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said on its website.

Contaminated Irish pork could have been imported by up to 25 countries, including China, Irish government officials said on Sunday.

The AQSIQ has issued a 90-day import alert on five food products from the European Union (EU), too, after they were found unfit for human consumption.

The products on the list are Italian brandy for excessive levels of methanol, British flavoring products for containing too much sorbic acid, Dutch soybean powder for its transgenic content, Spanish dairy products for high levels of benzoic acid and Belgian chocolate for their added food colors.

The "substandard products", all of which have either been returned or destroyed, were found during border quality checks in Shanghai and Sichuan province recently.

Border quality checks have been tightened after the import alert was issued over the weekend, an AQSIQ spokesman said. "Whether we'll take further action depends on the situation in the next three months."

The government has already provided the EU with detailed reports on the substandard products, and would like to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with the European body on food safety issues, the AQSIQ statement said.

China last week exported its first batch of cooked chicken to the EU after a six-year ban was lifted, the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday. Shandong Zhucheng Foreign Trade Co shipped 60 tons of cooked chicken to Belgium, a ministry statement said.

The EU lifted the ban in July, but only nine companies, all in Shandong province, won the approval to export.

"The lifting of the ban shows the quality of Chinese poultry products is very good and would help restore the confidence of our consumers," said Huo Jianguo, head of the China Chamber of Commerce for imports and exports of foodstuff, native produce and animal byproducts.

"We hope Shandong Zhucheng Foreign Trade Co will continue to ensure the quality of its product especially when weakening overseas demand has hit exports," Xinhua quoted Huo as having said.

The EU banned imports of some Chinese meat products in January 2002, saying they were contaminated with chloramphenicol, an antibiotic. In January 2004, the EU went on to ban all poultry imports after bird flu broke out in some parts of China.