BEIJING (Reuters) - China's quarantine bureau has warned the United States over the quality of imported soybeans after finding traces of harmful pesticides in one U.S. soy cargo, the bureau said in a statement on Tuesday.

The warning comes as China's government faces calls for import curbs because state purchases have pushed up prices and cheap imports have flooded the domestic market.

The bureau issued an "early warning" on potential risks of soy imports from the world's largest exporter after authorities in east Zhejiang province found the cargo contained beans coated with a blue substance used to protect seeds, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (ASSCIQ).

It said local authorities would inspect imported soy cargoes strictly to protect Chinese consumers.

"I don't think it will interrupt trading because China has a deficit of soybeans and needs imports," said one trader in an international trading house.

China has been buying U.S. soy aggressively over recent months, particularly after Beijing's state stockbuilding plan pushed domestic prices higher.

Soy growers in the country's largest soy area have called on the government to impose an anti-dumping tax on cheap imports after its plan to help farmers by purchasing their harvest brought more U.S. beans onto the Chinese market.

(Reporting by Niu Shuping, Editing by Peter Blackburn)

Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:50am EST

Source: www.reuters.com