- s! S8 |$ U# O( g* g3 J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。” ; V0 v" m8 Q5 D! o, R- f+ F4 o' W% O 9 N, e' Z3 [* h j. E7 u4 r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。 6 j/ B% o& I" \+ Q+ c + h4 _0 \" f8 ?; R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。 ' o# l) V1 p/ @4 a0 o4 M& Z3 ^+ r- G. x
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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai & a5 ~7 ]- |- z& _; M% m6 u" zWednesday, June 27, 2007 7 c: T& {- j9 S% ^! q
# |/ ?5 ~8 R$ m7 q4 b/ q : \$ e% o) \$ C" c+ D: E0 }BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION ) V7 o' d" q' B U1 W: _3 t2 a8 t" ^7 V X9 y/ o c! z
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.; ]5 V# g' F) o5 Z. V' u3 x
8 X1 g( C g# O: |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." d- z/ H! d# ^$ _! ]
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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. , r. r% S3 ]8 M5 L: U* b + W1 ?8 \# @7 [0 ^1 y' g3 N3 I/ FThe 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., r( P, F* ~# y4 e; Y
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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.) Z& a. l/ ]6 H( W/ f5 t
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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. ) }3 v) l4 U, E% @% {' ~1 v8 |5 o x: i
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.- e3 H6 c$ K2 A% i8 J) q
1 `" K7 @# |2 z4 EAn 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 p2 G; t8 s4 ]8 d
; t& O1 K( [7 z2 qThe 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./ q% B1 m% l1 G# ^( m
4 e4 g+ G! V% A, m6 D" x( jThe 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. % _, K4 L, b5 w) l, c& M$ C7 v$ f. U4 {+ ?
0 C* m( G, h2 a* o 1 n" x5 ]; o t0 NFinancial Times
