/ L( L* s! Y3 q: `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。* E( i* }% T4 P5 }% p0 |2 s
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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。 6 g% A) N. }& e* b' u9 D, g, r9 Q3 u& f* i
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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai # C$ S- A8 R3 z/ v0 i9 l9 p' r7 f+ GWednesday, June 27, 2007 ' T2 S" L x7 L7 K# w0 v* p# f3 M9 N G! F( ^ B
1 J9 g. T4 Y" K' e1 x/ ?BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION ) j6 i1 b$ G0 F. @8 P% t3 b x! }! W) L/ w" E& _2 J3 y4 q
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.- a$ H( q# ]4 p1 x7 A
, G$ y8 s a7 F) o4 jGovernment 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. . y1 ]/ @! j4 g) z: U$ Q. a1 ?! S ( c+ l' A+ l+ w8 e& d3 rComing 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.$ P ?% }- G' L" r5 C
: l" I* o; ^0 N6 F8 ^& aThe 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.- ~2 N/ w2 q+ E9 G
W$ `% G4 z( L4 g. VChina'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.5 ?) ]. H! z' ?* e2 N& |; y8 D* V
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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.- O, k. K3 t/ f' G# ?
3 [' N+ `$ K, x8 C, R# `* _" _The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.: a4 y: P: |+ z$ o. x1 G
0 _2 g& [& M! J# h. X! ?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.” 7 o; U+ Q2 E% O5 J' ^4 h# F H9 k7 u5 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. - q3 w% x: M0 t$ ?4 ~& K( |3 b- i- c% F7 J* H$ H
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.9 k- J5 c4 B6 `% [. z: [0 L
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Financial Times
