China's top quality control agency yesterday 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.