Local Chinese Regulator Opens Probe Into a Walmart Store Over Food-Safety Issues
17 Janeiro 2022 - 02:57AM
Dow Jones News
By Yifan Wang
A local Chinese regulator said it has started a probe into a
Walmart Inc. store over food-safety issues, the latest step by
Beijing to step up scrutiny of the U.S. retailer amid rising
geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington.
The Bureau for Market Regulation in the southwestern city of
Chengdu on Sunday said it has launched an investigation into the
Sam's Club store in the Jinniu district.
Sam's Club is a popular members-only wholesale retail chain that
has been a business focus and key growth driver for Walmart in
China.
The probe followed consumer complaints about spoiled beef, the
regulator, a local branch of China's top market watchdog, said in a
statement posted on social media.
After initial sample checks, the regulator found that the
product didn't meet relevant standards, and has ordered the store
to recall all products from the same batch, it said.
The regulator said it also found improper practices such as a
lack of comprehensive protocols and overly high room temperatures
at the store.
Walmart on Monday didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment.
Walmart, the world's largest retailer, has faced particularly
heightened scrutiny in China over recent weeks, after the passage
of a U.S. law that virtually bans all imports from the northwestern
Chinese region of Xinjiang over forced-labor and human-rights
concerns.
Last week, authorities and state media drew attention to a
roughly $50,000 fine against Walmart in 2021, an unusual move by
regulators to publicly highlight small fines for past
infractions.
In late December, the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer attracted
anger on Chinese social media as internet users asserted that
Walmart had stopped stocking products from Xinjiang. Social-media
accounts run by Communist Party-backed entities weighed in to
criticize the company.
The spotlight on Walmart came after President Biden in December
signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law, which bans
all imports to the U.S. from Xinjiang unless companies can certify
that such products are free from forced labor.
China has rejected allegations of genocide and forced labor,
describing their policies in the region as aimed at preventing
terrorism and protecting national security.
Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 17, 2022 00:42 ET (05:42 GMT)
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