TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese chemical giant Toray Industries Inc. said Monday it falsified samples of some of its resin products to illegally acquire global safety certifications, with the conduct dating back at least 10 years.
The samples of resins used in products such as vehicles and home appliances were submitted to conform to specific flame resistance standards set by U.S. safety group Underwriters Laboratories Inc. but they were testing samples and not the ones actually used in its commercially sold products, Toray said in a press release.
There have been no reported incidents involving any of the six types of illegally certified Toray products including its nylon resin Amilan and ABS resin Toyolac, Toray officials said.
Such products that did not meet the internationally recognized flame resistance standards were sold to about 80 firms.
UL certification is considered a global standard for the safety of chemical products, and Toray said it would set up a committee made up of lawyers to investigate the matter.
Toray said the samples were created at its facilities in Nagoya and Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo, with the purpose of passing spot inspections for UL standards conducted four times a year.
The company sells about 1,600 kinds of resin products, which is equivalent to about 570,000 tons of resins annually. Of that, about 410 of the products acquired UL listing and about 110 acquired the certification even if they did not conform to the standards.
