; N6 p8 |6 ?* ?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。) Z4 B3 B K, `: M+ h; J) B8 m6 [( I
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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ( e6 E/ V& k# `/ q6 Z
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 5 a; X! u4 B9 R% f+ H
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/ W7 C$ f% Y- {BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION* \+ G0 ^' t8 d8 }" b; N P" h
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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. . P% \% ^: a4 r j* S: f. }, \6 L
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. ; |6 E0 L' M4 F' V8 b; j2 ]6 n7 |# X! A) `/ [, V) ]% l, F
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.$ J% P+ M: B, g/ Y% Y0 A
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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. 8 f9 Y) p" e8 x0 k e3 w; ^ + d. T1 _# x3 |/ B6 N# i. D9 sChina'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.( s* `. H$ y" ?! K% B A
4 q7 p$ A( t; W5 L2 y; {7 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.- {$ ^4 e$ }( L: F
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. - R0 B' Z( _, u; o9 k ( e& K, F! W$ B- T$ ?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.”2 X. ]/ |+ A, H$ E- u
; i0 P9 G2 c- ^1 A% Z: wThe 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. , _: X! `, D$ z/ p+ I p D# N& Z+ Q" B1 A; SThe 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.; E/ C& w& t& @4 D7 J2 A- }
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+ m, W5 X0 b. a7 d% ?1 I 8 p& R( [7 J7 ]9 K. z( A( nFinancial Times
