- \( t5 c" @7 I$ T' Z由中国杭州中策橡胶有限公司(Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber)制造的这些轮胎缺少一层帮助加固轮胎、防止胎面分离的橡胶层——2000年，正是这个问题导致美国大规模召回凡世通轮胎(Firestone)。记者昨日未能联系到杭州中策的管理人员置评。 u" V& F; s. B1 ~" d; J+ N$ e
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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ) W7 @" d. ^4 V9 [' c4 |Wednesday, June 27, 2007 ) c& e) Z/ X. b1 C ( `: ?9 p2 W2 Z( a3 ^0 u3 L0 Y. y' m1 w/ l5 P4 m
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION $ u6 }5 j4 F7 |8 h; y/ A- D! {. { ! A4 L+ |9 c: X2 K; n' FChina has impounded two shipments of food from the US on the grounds that the produce is unsafe and warned that procedures for monitoring American food imports should be tightened. & I% u4 A- V9 I- I( s 1 s2 ~0 G$ {5 O2 oGovernment inspectors seized separate shipments of orange pulp and apricots from the US because they contained excessive bacteria and mould, China's food safety inspectorate said yesterday on its website. ; [% M4 x! J$ i+ A3 z! N0 P7 W 4 C1 G4 I9 G" }Coming on the back of a series of scandals in the US over the quality of imported goods from China, the announcement will be considered by many importers as a form of retaliation by the Chinese authorities.# K/ r- R" g5 Y% ^; E' e
: t- s! h7 X/ J( S4 x! pThe statement comes one day after regulators in the US announced a recall of up to 450,000 tyres manufactured by a Chinese company because of a potentially dangerous safety problem. * y' a# j6 e7 Z$ M6 | 9 [ W h D$ _ g+ D1 ^China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said it had impounded the orange pulp in the eastern province of Shandong and the apricots were seized in Shenzhen., I M% M9 o7 H
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The shipments contained “excessive bacteria, mould and sulphur dioxide”, the agency said, but gave no details about when they were impounded or how big the shipments were.5 ~* K- R2 P( R7 v! ^
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. / u4 z' @- D6 N1 J& ` {+ w7 n0 l* }6 g. ^7 Y( M2 C
An executive at a European trading company based in Shanghai said: “We cannot say anything for sure without seeing details about the shipments, but it certainly looks like a way of deflecting some of the attention away from China and its own quality problems.”0 g, D/ z% Y1 u
1 K( i1 `* E5 s/ d, k# Y9 P2 ^& ?The US government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Monday the recall of tyres sold by Foreign Tire Sales, a New Jersey distributor, which are used in vans, sports utility vehicles and pick-up trucks. ! Z. m `7 g' g$ F Z/ O( ~" ?2 T! _/ x4 ]0 q$ p
The tyres, made by a Chinese company called Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber, lacked a gum strip that helps strengthen the tyre and prevent tread separation – the problem that caused a massive recall of Firestone tyres in the US in 2000. Officials at Hangzhou Zhongce could not be reached for comment yesterday.' T# \0 j# i7 P7 ?* B0 E
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