HONG KONG, 29 Sept: China, the world’s top soy importer, returned 460 tons of soyabeans to the United States as the parcel contained live khapra beetles, one of the most destructive pests for grains, the China Daily said on Saturday.

Quoting a circular by China’s quarantine authorities, known as CIQ, the soy in 21 containers was seized at Huangpu port in the southern province of Guangdong. They contained other live pets and weeds, it said without elaborating. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine had suspended imports from the Scoular Company, which had supplied the soya.

“It’s the first time that China found such a pest in imported soybeans,” the circular said, referring to khapra beetle.

During the first eight months of this year, China imported 19.81 million tons of soy, up 1.7 per cent year-on-year, with 7.89 million tons coming from the United States. —Reuters