" c P: K, I8 Y5 e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。 / U: Y, v V; \. O 0 B' a3 q; R' E0 K" V5 b: v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。 : w$ p4 K: l- Z& ^6 K4 H" V% `9 y3 {& y! u
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By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai " Z W" j% v- ^" k+ T& k, I5 P% O% bWednesday, June 27, 2007 / y c, S z* e/ r: C. J
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BEIJING'S SEIZURE OF US FOOD SEEN AS RETALIATION5 _) z1 ~/ W' w2 b0 f
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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. $ H7 ^' N v) Q- H' Y( h% Q. m2 e
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. + @& k# k) d' b1 Z6 Y3 i- {* C, ?8 |2 ]; f! b
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.# d" D1 g! H3 D+ }
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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. * @$ N2 n% ?3 i( F8 W5 Q - M1 i# d) Z, SChina'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. , O; _: g# E3 v7 Z1 Y* O $ r+ C- M& K( [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.6 q }( o& [" a9 j% H
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The agency's statement said local departments had been advised to “strengthen quarantine and inspections on food imports from America”. 4 H8 `6 O2 i* Z6 i/ u, p ; M& @, I/ U1 X- u$ a+ ]9 \- p; G( CAn 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.” * r4 L0 U; a! o1 R) e" t) y, w( R) [. |! z
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./ }& Q+ @ X& x- x" M1 t9 v
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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. 3 \9 f7 X r; i9 @% G8 ^, q3 k; y8 o6 K* M5 ?( k& D% `$ |
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