+ g$ d0 \9 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。+ q8 r7 |& x$ N3 o: u
O2 a- @: p8 q; }0 l: T
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。 ( i" o; \ i& ?- ^! D4 E2 l ) V1 K( A; V; V * m' g) I( r4 m& h" o' h& g: VBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 9 c) I. O8 O6 Y" v* Q rWednesday, June 27, 2007 ' x" o7 t/ q, \' j) V
0 Y% R4 M- j5 M8 Z( a x7 u* d' k, |) @! |4 }) o& Q
BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION, h% H9 ]; o8 A* c: B$ q! T2 A6 l
4 {* E6 t. d# A, @3 B; f9 c
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. e& ? Y0 x; J& c( `" {$ t) n3 S 8 q S# x. e2 o, N) N$ E. @1 oGovernment 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. : E6 J8 t% G( o2 e. e) Y6 T 4 c4 c; o( c0 z }: H1 x$ g# k; {5 `+ kComing 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.# _/ |6 u- ]6 H+ [* i$ u8 n6 S
K# o6 H. V O7 y5 O. b. hThe 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.! p) F, l) J! T A+ i3 z5 n
( C- U% }4 I! C6 m* z
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. $ t" a# O7 g( I $ x. J! p5 I! DThe 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. # ^, Y/ o K, J4 @0 l4 U$ W) [ % J& H. P4 r+ ]The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.( z: d$ C% |2 I( W5 B4 W
' s% ^, u# ]( K# ?: F) ~7 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.” : ?% U D/ W0 i; n) S" A j) s) M
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.7 O1 t# S5 E# k+ i9 b h1 k
- ]" M/ N; d( E# I1 D1 Q2 mThe 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.5 ?5 m, i) F0 Y/ W6 L% S6 J
) B" O* S$ c; Q# I$ y0 Q
( T! b$ H E8 _6 U1 A, }( A, @ 2 L9 F2 ]' ?- ^$ H: Q. Z, @' F/ xFinancial Times
