/ T' W' h/ B) p) P2 @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。: H9 P1 `: ` ]; B5 y: p/ X
" f M I' D, |# @# i2 o9 |6 w" P- |2 X9 A 7 k7 r+ l+ }, w+ qBy Geoff Dyer in Shanghai 8 p- ]/ l; u+ p) l! j8 _
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 2 U2 b3 {5 d3 d% x- H( U& X5 F+ v( j# l! d- ?# S
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION ) q: s4 V( i/ N" @- f! s5 J , o1 b- D. |$ g4 {5 M1 M1 v; k1 rChina 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. ; w9 n# r: D: S& s* d- Y# C2 Y d2 ?2 X" e3 z
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.2 D7 ~- b; G8 e C7 H
% g! @2 b- M4 a. xComing 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. . Z4 I w' q6 e4 ]( g6 @! m3 R( e2 L h
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.* N; s- e3 y8 f& E I
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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.. X% y b% \) b* }
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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. - Y/ i C8 V$ T$ E7 E+ M( Y) ]: b3 `6 n; L
The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. 0 \* _/ r5 x- K. |2 i 9 A+ O. h/ M0 A1 iAn 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.” . t6 K7 r% G) M( {9 g ; p) v6 @. s* K' TThe 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.: P a" |, J. |( U' n
! p: ]3 o: w6 UThe 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.7 h* Y+ @* q* R: y9 ~) G9 o4 C8 _
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Financial Times
