8 {9 l4 W2 N0 |2 d, 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。 1 [0 ?* ~4 Q9 z( `1 |% L+ O4 X# d) |0 S) w
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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 5 i7 c0 n+ g9 [Wednesday, June 27, 2007 9 ~+ Q+ @& m3 Q6 `& _9 N- `) t; F; m4 K% l% E; _7 D
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION 0 h% T6 ?/ K* W2 l( D 1 V* u! N' ?- l; gChina 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. - ^" J$ e! X. Y4 u. J0 Q- c, o$ v9 H; G; M/ n5 U+ W
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.. L& }8 h4 G% e$ N' d' S
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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.% R9 v0 l A6 N5 M
( l( P! w# R' bThe 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.' |; ^7 l( L" o# ~6 J
- E: ^& S1 }8 N' C: WChina'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. # i8 C4 B+ r: n1 ~ 0 W, Y% x( d9 Y+ lThe 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.( a3 u2 {. e Z5 z9 p9 Q0 p* D0 [. U& Y
. P: g d; n3 ^5 MThe agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”.8 ^1 @$ b4 X5 Z' k* G
4 [+ q# p1 m/ b1 ^6 dAn 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.” ]: ~# p/ `- l/ d0 z5 v; o6 P2 Z7 N( s; m7 v4 X% i# c/ 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.: N/ i2 B# y) z( ^3 s$ X5 c
' @ p$ L2 n! I8 O8 }# f% nThe 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.% A" \4 }- y# M6 C& U
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