$ M+ F7 p$ g; ~+ h& w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。 " R+ e0 U* Y% z8 M, z( T$ o 5 u! Y4 L M3 ^" K8 | / m6 \1 H* u# zBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai $ o- X1 f0 `% K* ?5 h
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 / z3 Q k6 f+ O/ |) t ! E2 k& O# g7 Q6 k 5 r! H$ ]1 p* w% N' A2 c- yBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION8 G2 H t1 {3 H5 p
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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.% J# _8 A0 f1 N% 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./ ~7 n) A6 p3 t- u
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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., I9 u, q$ L1 ~# T, C
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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.7 m- v. q( M- a$ w/ ~5 X
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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.$ v \5 L9 b+ ?+ Z
6 k7 A. j4 p2 t% y) X7 O! UThe 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. 6 {8 l2 P0 T/ T/ Z* Z4 N" g* \ / A! Z7 q) }* U- e4 Y, T2 BThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. $ [3 D+ P: t& k, s! Y9 T + y/ u- B- ~! \' T0 j$ I) r7 xAn 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.”; \" u( q( U6 G# ^$ d0 a8 M
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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. & p0 q- G# ?* J # q- f7 W. @: k5 {0 H7 cThe 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.3 w y% }/ ?& C. ~! |. [7 [
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Financial Times
