0 y, C* G" m! ?% y3 P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。3 u2 [6 }4 u6 G; ~
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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。6 U( k6 `: B! v. b) g" _
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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai ' t+ G; n+ ?3 j- [& y& kWednesday, June 27, 2007 ; K# T4 Z/ [5 N+ A* j4 Z" c$ N: |$ a# d
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION8 ]% @" P& V2 Y
- o! H2 L" P4 \9 Y# \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.0 H$ ]% Z! g' 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. 1 s$ ^2 S7 Z8 k7 L8 N$ e$ g1 P; w3 n* x( d* |; Z2 s4 `4 o
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/ F' F9 ]7 O% S3 J7 w: h" 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.- T9 e: Q! W& l8 m
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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.' ]0 P$ g2 z: M) W4 a
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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. 5 a( j \7 m- a2 N# R * J3 B9 C- a9 u* v: ^' {8 Z+ @( cThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.9 o+ A' m+ e( ]5 i7 i9 l! ]
) c' {) ?) f# `9 hAn 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.” ; F9 m X9 y! M2 y3 c1 ^6 m6 d o) f8 }/ h @
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.5 P9 q: l7 s6 X$ o) ]( f4 F6 [
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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 U7 p6 E9 u/ I7 a/ L2 B
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Financial Times
