9 j/ g0 ^# I2 R: B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。 ; O0 u3 T z2 h% w) l8 W6 A ) m" M8 E+ ~/ R; p" n# N# P " K) Q1 S: E; Q8 b4 _' r4 N/ wBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ! } {5 {$ s+ I, L' y. s
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 + `- [: s! w1 r4 @' ` % \( ]$ a' ?: [/ p* P5 s/ ~ 5 r& B2 `) z% B# H5 \1 s- l( j5 w. gBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 5 u. z& Z) v# W5 g) N% ?4 r& b0 j: 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. 7 ~* X Q- f2 v) W1 ?9 [* E/ ^" Z) k% E: A( _- G! s' S
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. # g# K( x& I+ j* T4 r* U0 I0 m% m& f7 ^
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. 4 i" ~# n) S# A+ R. r4 `0 i : l0 m- f4 d }# MThe 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. & [, I4 {- m6 z/ E2 y 1 @" I' d. a+ [/ s2 kChina'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. " c Q; A! M- K7 A5 {' _; ^' a" G
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. $ P3 T( d2 b! [4 J9 f! Y 6 F$ l; c+ a0 x. [: R* H+ rThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. + ]" c9 i7 C% M7 a; E2 C2 I) f* S6 i+ I
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.” ' Z; E% p. G4 I2 ^ & B/ d2 M" P! ~" U- iThe 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.3 k: ?7 e, S- E- ~% v
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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.9 e5 a0 e# P. c5 X$ o
9 @7 }9 O- P; c: m ; P, F6 h- Q2 T$ W! B/ p 6 z1 w" [4 l1 P AFinancial Times
