+ ~6 \' Q7 ~ H# x: D: M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。 : W0 i0 d% S: ]9 R/ K8 h+ O % r( r2 H, c% a5 x `) g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。* A' e+ u0 q5 G! A) M8 C
O! z$ _; d a7 R+ T
1 X+ M4 _6 O( s% r8 x4 dBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 9 N0 q Z6 F- P* ^9 s4 rWednesday, June 27, 2007 # y: ^5 x$ [" Z% I
2 n' O1 Y2 ]; Y. J) ^
/ B) S: \7 K. C5 f+ {* ~7 a
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION - D2 k- q v9 C5 r7 x6 @& {. U( _6 ^! L; p8 a" J. o: ]4 ?8 o# J
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 k; J* }5 H1 q; M; p4 r, l+ S6 @8 Z O4 L5 [/ \, G9 X1 e' Q
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.1 l: v* x' X% c% J" y" ~
1 w/ D# R" e N8 ~
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. 7 G* X8 E9 N* T4 g% w. l, m1 m" x( ?
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. % G0 `$ ?3 \' J/ C* u. n % f: p: P7 ]5 u1 W5 u. ~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. 8 k6 {, ^- [" R n( S1 C9 Y% NThe 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./ S( a- w# e' _' T7 I2 G
4 i/ k. w' I1 A# n
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. L% k, J4 L' r b# h
& D# a1 E4 S' C8 F$ B
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.”9 n e' d' r& r* N. \$ ]
: @. A. c" c+ J2 u
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.: y& \) G: m) Z1 T
) D7 Z l9 q& A
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.1 w. ~% J9 S: f* ]( j* u- |
3 f4 k t6 h. I0 y+ O/ K+ M0 U' d7 t, p% \* V. v' F
