Society

440,000 containers found carrying toxic substances

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-25 22:55

BEIJING - China's quality authority said on Wednesday that the country checked 15.52 million twenty-equivalent-unit (TEU) import and export containers last year and found 440,000 TEU containers carrying contagious diseases and poisonous substances.

Import loaded containers from 142 countries and regions have been found carry contagious diseases and toxic materials. These materials included pests, weeds, large dead animals and household garbage, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement posted on its website.

Furthermore, the country's quality watchdogs checked 51.44 million tonnes of imported waste last year that could be used as raw materials, a decrease of 14 percent year on year.