5 o2 ^7 s. [% V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。. @5 `. ]5 c7 u$ V7 s4 {
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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 1 H/ l% V0 z1 AWednesday, June 27, 2007 " H0 s& d( ?7 |3 Y0 t# f0 Q7 J4 U5 P
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 0 m( j2 z6 ?" K* W% P* x) b5 h7 l! h
China 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. 4 M, E0 N9 L3 j( ?! q B 6 N$ e, @. [7 T' SGovernment 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.) B- a6 J1 u4 U% X/ L
" J8 E; h _& p+ @+ H+ r9 ^1 h8 }; ]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.- p3 b8 t& G4 Z! ^; F! x
( g$ f' T3 y- r& z7 ?( mThe 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, v2 U& y- D, J+ y' N7 A
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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./ f* F) Z3 H' E
; x1 o) z1 t+ u( YThe 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. 9 G4 k* q. E5 w( L/ \8 \/ z. r o% P% B/ _
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.9 b" F4 r% D2 [: F" l
5 {% Z4 }" {) Y8 r1 e7 }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.”$ Y9 k6 Y( K; G* h
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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." J: O G n6 \" A
5 ~8 o6 k! L* X: t+ zThe 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. # v. t* t; m# |) T0 y% U# b& `8 _# Z 5 v2 Y1 A& U" T . m/ ^( I5 Z" E, x% ?0 a- R5 P; L, N% r* j, n
Financial Times
