China's top quality control agency on Friday banned imports of
aquatic products from Indonesia, claiming many were found
containing toxic substances and disease causing pathogens.
Quarantine officials had found Indonesian aquatic products
tainted with mercury, chromium, the antibacterial drug nitrofural,
and pathogens, the General Administration of Quality Supervision,
Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) said.
The agency stated in a circular the tainted aquatic products
have been returned or destroyed.
In the first six months, Chinese officials seized 121 batches of
Indonesian foods ranging from aquatic products, palm oil, canned
food to biscuits that contain excessive drug residues and food
additives and harmful organisms, according to the AQSIO.
It cited examples, saying quarantine officials in the southern
province of Guangdong had detected salmonella in frozen sea eels
and listeria monocytogenes in frozen fish offal, while officials in
the eastern city of Ningbo found forbidden citrine pigment in
canned pineapples.
The GAQSIQ said local quarantine officials had returned or
destroyed all the tainted products, without providing details of
the brands and quantities of the goods and their producers.
It urged local authorities to step up quality inspections of
Indonesian food imports and urged domestic importers to specify
clearly food safety requirements with Indonesian exporters to
reduce trade risks.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)