BEIJING (Dow Jones) - Quarantine officers in China have seized a more than57,000 metric-ton shipment of soybeans imported from the U.S., claimingthe crops are contaminated, state media reported Thursday. The seizure anddestruction of the imported soybeans in the southern city of Guangzhoufollows recent bans on South American shipments due to concerns aboutcontamination. The U.S. soybeans are infested with phytophthora sojae, anorganism responsible for soy rot, the official Xinhua News Agencyreported, citing unnamed sources with the Guangzhou Inspection andQuarantine Bureau. Soy rot is estimated to cause at least $100 million indamages to soybean crops in the U.S. each year, the report said. This isthe fifth cargo infested with the organism detected this year in thesouthern port city. Chinese quarantine authorities this year banned 23international suppliers from supplying Brazilian soybeans, after findingfungicide-tainted seeds in the cargoes they supplied. That ban was liftedon June 30.

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