/ T$ Z" D3 S) o# o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。# z. ~0 V0 n. F
* m& ]/ O# u% U. E+ j 8 E- w7 C; w" z$ OBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ; d6 w7 |8 T! [8 A: x+ L& GWednesday, June 27, 2007 3 q+ B# l/ a& }3 m7 z $ v2 }. v3 L o$ [/ K1 z" ?. [$ S( C- C
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION+ c1 H$ b$ z8 a& O/ x
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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.6 O: M6 ^, B, t+ i
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Government 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. 1 b8 V7 l! V) c6 M" _0 x 8 R( T/ L$ x+ q. t$ p* r0 E0 mComing 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. 2 M. t- E8 s# ]3 m! v+ d' i/ l( C* l7 @* s5 U* H9 I1 b; j _: E
The 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.% @0 T5 H) P' T1 C
8 |1 C. T% O3 q( ]: F6 p1 y+ B5 [& ZChina'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." c5 }* \7 L c5 Y, b
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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.0 k5 v$ U# ^. r) G: k7 H
: r9 v8 j! D: b$ K0 |The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.& K" I7 P4 l+ I+ w! {2 v
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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.” & m" A7 W6 K& N/ D7 A0 ]* i% v' s2 [) G' \" j: ` q [
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.7 P3 w* H4 ?8 x& g
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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. + E1 X, f( R" C: O) |- R6 a0 v, B
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Financial Times
