June 22, 2004

China To Verify Report Of Tainted Argentine Soy Cargo

Chinese officials are attempting verify a report that a Panamax-size Argentine soybean cargo is stuck at the port of Shenzhen in southern China for failing to meet Chinese quarantine requirements.

"We haven't received any confirmation regarding this news from our branches at ports," an official in the plants inspection division of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said Tuesday. "We are investigating the news now. We will publish our findings as soon as possible."

The incident was reported late Monday by various Chinese Web sites, citing an unnamed industry source.

An official at the Argentine Embassy in Beijing said the embassy has not been informed by the Chinese quarantine authority of any tainted cargoes.

"We are trying to contact the AQSIQ to verify the details," the Argentine Embassy official said.