4 {" l/ Y3 d, r8 A5 p/ _/ f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。. n, \- V$ f3 G3 }7 l+ H
/ S* }5 }7 v( J5 U& Q- h9 t0 y+ b! A) G4 H% i
By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 3 V& E4 C% g5 u# l) A' b7 j- TWednesday, June 27, 2007 + {( G7 W/ o6 n" s$ r- G" o7 M
5 w1 h+ q# Z" U0 y0 i
7 G5 P, h) e3 d2 xBEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION3 ~$ q+ s+ @$ y; G6 E
2 X. K! A8 b* W2 r. L& Y$ vChina 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.3 l* P; M8 ]/ d' O" U) [
. v) k/ ~( j* e! ?& `; }, eGovernment 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. 8 d/ j9 l) C2 P, e, B2 u4 A; z+ b# P) N, q8 X* g: i# I
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./ X1 Y0 \2 k' L; j' S `
: x* e: C% F& a" Q" T1 W& [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.( L0 }8 y+ m7 Q# x( G7 w7 u
6 B8 ?( ^$ X9 b# ]
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. 1 m- W# p) ]# f5 R- h$ `3 ] + K- t1 c4 [1 c. I2 j0 TThe 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.% X- a1 W' u- c( ^. f, ]; M( u; p
: H7 b) r W$ z5 y0 ~. y
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. $ d" l" e& l1 w; W r8 `+ l2 D: j6 T, ^5 ~: 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.” [- \! c/ ^# U9 G4 O% ^
4 D3 [) [" ^/ q O1 _$ ]& R5 L+ UThe 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. & m: ~* h5 b5 ~# p9 r% o1 _( j3 d. w, n: b( v$ e- b( o( b
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. P- ]- L/ I0 K# l6 I% @* t2 Z/ k: u2 Z4 D, p" E
9 n$ o( ^. a( Q* r/ j: v8 M+ V' K v% a5 R/ C. `; D( g9 M g
Financial Times
