美国将暂停从中国进口5种水产品

摘要：美国食品和药物管理局宣布，将暂停从中国进口水产养殖产品。这些被警告禁止进口的水产品包括鲶鱼、巴沙鱼、虾、鲮鱼和鳗鱼五种产品。

美国食品和药物管理局称，作出这一决定，是因为近来从中国进口的上述部分水产品中发现含有可能导致癌症的孔雀石绿等禁止使用的添加剂。

根据这项规定，中止进口上述5种中国水产品的决定可视情况无限期延长，但假如中国出口商能提供相关详细材料，证明其对美出口的水产品未使用任何非法添加剂，美国将对该出口商的产品予以放行。美国食品和药物管理局称，在进口商可以证明产自中国的水产品的安全性之前，这些货物需被扣留在港口。

同时，目前从中国进口的一些水产品中检测出的添加剂含量非常少，接近于能被检测出的最低水平，因此管理局不会要求召回已销售的这些水产品，也不会建议消费者销毁或退回这些产品。目前，中国是美国的第三大水产养殖产品进口国。

Washington Post WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned the import of five species of fish and shrimp from China because they have been found to contain unsafe additives and drugs, some of which can cause cancer, the agency said Thursday.

The banned species include catfish, shrimp, eel, basa — a kind of catfish — and the carp-like dace. The FDA is not ordering the seafood out of restaurants or to be pulled from supermarket shelves, but said all incoming products would be banned immediately. The chemicals found in the food "could cause health problems if consumed over a long period of time," said David Acheson, the FDA's assistant commissioner for food protection.

The ban follows several months of concerns over food and drug imports from China that came to light with the discovery of tainted pet food in March, which led to manufacturer recalls of more than 100 brands and numerous pet deaths. Food from China meant for humans in the U.S. — such as mushrooms, plums and scallops — has been blocked from import by the FDA, which rejects about 200 shipments per month from China.

"There is no imminent threat to the public," Acheson said. He added that the Chinese government has been working to improve inspection of their farmed seafood exports, but not enough to prevent the new ban.

The toxins found in fish targeted by the FDA include a chemical called malachite green, which is used to treat fungal infections, Acheson said, and has caused cancer in laboratory animals. Fluoroquinolones, also found in the Chinese fish, can increase antibiotic resistance, the FDA said.

The problems date to before 2001 and the FDA had banned individual Chinese manufacturers found to be exporting tainted fish. But heightened FDA inspections over the past several months have found that as much as 15 percent of the banned seafood contained the harmful chemicals, leading to the countrywide ban.

"We don't know how much of this product is in the country," said Margaret O'K. Glavin, the FDA's associate commissioner for regulatory affairs.

Shrimp and catfish are among the 10 most popular seafood consumed by Americans, the FDA said.

Chinese manufacturers must clear numerous FDA hurdles involving third-party inspections before their fish will be allowed back in the U.S., the agency said.

Because of the low cost of farming and processing, the West has increasingly looked to China for food and drugs in addition to manufactured goods. The U.S. imported $2.3 billion worth of agricultural goods from China last year, compared with $133 million in 1980.