Kobe Steel says it has lost a Japan Industrial Standards certification for some of its copper products after reporting faked quality inspections for a slew of products used in cars, trains, aircraft and other equipment.
The company said Thursday that the Japan Quality Assurance agency had withdrawn its a certification for products affected by the bogus inspections at a factory outside Tokyo.
It said that copper products from its subsidiary Kobelco Materials Copper Tubing in Hatano, southwest of Tokyo, will no longer qualify for the Japan certification. However, they may still be supplied to customers if they meet quality specifications.
Kobe Steel told reporters it has confirmed the safety of most of the products affected by the falsified inspections, which affected some 525 companies both inside and outside Japan.
