China suspends US lumber imports, revokes export licenses of three U.S. companies over soybean shipments

China's General Administration of Customs (GACC) announced on Tuesday that it has suspended imports of U.S. lumber and revoked the export licenses of three U.S. companies for soybean shipments, citing concerns over the presence of forest pests and contamination in recent shipments.

The GACC reported that routine inspections of U.S. lumber imports uncovered quarantine pests, including bark beetles and longhorn beetles. To safeguard China’s agricultural and ecological security and prevent the spread of harmful organisms, the GACC immediately suspended U.S. lumber imports.

This decision is in accordance with China’s Biosafety Law, the Entry-Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine Law, and international phytosanitary standards.

In addition, Chinese customs authorities detected ergot contamination and pesticide-coated soybeans in U.S. soybean shipments. To protect consumer health and ensure the safety of grain imports, the GACC suspended the export qualifications of three U.S. companies.

The companies involved are CHS Inc., Louis Dreyfus Company Grains Merchandising LLC, and EGT, LLC.

The suspension is based on China’s Food Safety Law, the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Grain Import and Export Inspection and Quarantine, and the provisions of the World Trade Organization’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement.

China suspends US lumber imports, revokes export licenses of three U.S. companies over soybean shipments

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight