% u6 i2 r7 L+ h/ M$ |5 W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。”4 x3 J8 V8 w9 D* j' D+ Y( W
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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。 ! O" h4 ~+ D. c9 Z 8 S$ ^7 T N! a# l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。/ C+ ?8 N" G: B7 v9 h- k
& M3 L5 I3 D4 |8 }3 Z* P+ C - x4 U. R# D5 y0 G7 aBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ' n1 i ?2 N" r) K# F3 p4 VWednesday, June 27, 2007 . Z; I9 ?; D7 j' I8 T
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION7 `4 `; \) _' D7 `* d
! y; \$ m2 u3 E9 |$ [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. - Q, g/ k/ i/ A* N- O6 k! `% V$ N# o' x3 w6 D: i
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.( C3 J: C$ ?' g# u7 l$ a& x
0 h. E' `! }2 e5 F0 C' }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. : s2 Q9 \, e% {4 S9 b ! t9 M; Y& B& @* h8 ?; Y/ EThe 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 ^: g! I# S6 ~' ?9 ]4 Q1 k7 U, E. s6 }" e' K8 A. Z( c, {" Y% z
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." G4 @- |) Y% W0 k
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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. / N' [; e' y, Z4 m, ?- B7 r- N% y/ ^- `3 |( v+ f/ ^1 F# `- E
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.- B7 T5 D& q/ i) q
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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.” p1 c' _9 {& u" S- H% r- H+ e4 _
1 ?" O! G' N* w: Z* S! H9 eThe 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./ f% U, ` i& z# L& X
; w" s# W6 k1 N4 z w" aThe 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+ N6 F, ^# ?5 N( I2 q" B' F! d" I+ _7 y6 R3 o
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Financial Times
