/ R; l) c2 P) r1 p d某欧洲贸易公司驻上海的一位高管表示：“没有看到关于这些货物的细节，我们说什么都没有把握，但显然，这看起来像是要引开人们对中国及其自身质量问题的关注。”6 e6 V r' i) ?4 S
" o9 _! d5 S9 X* N美国政府下属的国家公路交通安全管理局(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)周一宣布召回新泽西州分销商Foreign Tire Sales销售的轮胎，这些轮胎可用于有篷货车、SUV和小型敞篷载货卡车。# t+ q+ v6 T3 R4 E( a, G( I
$ S( D* [) R+ g- ^, c) |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。 9 v3 @6 P0 y; ^# u1 \' t4 z2 D: ~* M w) Q8 L6 O+ I6 m1 v
0 ^! q% ^! }# O6 L0 h
By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai # j5 a2 D$ G9 kWednesday, June 27, 2007 ' r; y: H/ o& h% u2 I7 |# e$ E& h
. V4 O' W. a; I7 X5 e
3 r. f7 w! j$ Y0 u/ VBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION : R) g+ D" p5 Y# u9 C / h( d) D6 S6 _- g- `3 v( ZChina 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% r. N$ l6 s @ p! j6 R) A
# t" A+ _* R) M9 K
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.2 C Y* Z+ I9 C7 n8 N/ _
# }) ~4 _6 x' ~2 G1 }. zComing 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.$ c; \( P3 C; n+ v* ]+ P* b6 v
+ y& w1 p: U8 Z# Y8 @+ S+ u8 vThe 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.( o9 ? w" C' q) W" C% _/ T" Z
* e$ c& A2 A& {2 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. - W! d- h0 O- i) M! j! | ; C" y, \1 `) VThe 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 W( `# K( y% S+ X( d" U * k8 Y* y: F+ ^; YThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. ; N- B0 W" j0 h0 N ) G' @0 o3 i) E$ E4 W! a) tAn 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.” 2 ~$ P1 \8 e" F+ t, f5 E; X3 C3 K; ^" q2 `
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. & b* d5 Q. d' p4 D & y: A' v7 @" J) `3 [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.# y/ m7 E1 q0 G/ f- x. |
( @1 a. D8 k) Q# q' p ! Y" A) y4 b$ I _2 Y8 W % H5 c- [8 ~# T1 d% r/ u4 Z: ]( wFinancial Times
