China has found safety problems with soybeans imported from the United States and urged the US authorities to improve the quality of soybean exports.

Local entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureaus have discovered quality and safety problems from US-imported soybeans, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) on its website.

Inspection and quarantine units often find hazardous weeds such as sorghum halepense and iva xanthifolia that could threaten China's farm production, forestation and ecological safety. The imported soybeans also had soil clods containing pest which poses threats to China's soybean production, it said.

Some soybeans imported from the United States failed to reach the requirement in protein and oil contents, and had more impurities than allowed in contracts.

"These problems indicate loopholes in the process of growing, harvesting, storing, transporting, inspecting, and quarantining soybeans in the United States," it said.

The administration has notified the US authorities and asked for an investigation into the case and effective measures to avoid similar problems.

In recent years, China has been importing millions of tons or more of transgenetic soybeans from the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2007)