Kobe Steel Ltd. said Wednesday that the Japanese Industrial Standard certification has been revoked for more of its copper products amid a data fabrication scandal.
The firm is now unable to attach the JIS mark on copper pipes made at its Hatano plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, operated by subsidiary Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube Co., after having its JIS certificate revoked for other copper products from the same plant last month by the Japan Quality Assurance Organization.
JQA said the firm continued shipping copper products that did not meet industrial standards, violating regulations.
Kobe Steel can ship products even without JIS certificate stamps if client companies agree, the company has said.
Last year, the certificate was revoked for stainless steel products made by another subsidiary of Kobe Steel after it was found that product data had been fabricated.
Kobe Steel is the first company to have lost JIS certificates for two years in a row, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The company has admitted falsifying data for its products and specifications — including aluminum, copper, steel powder, liquid crystal display materials and special steel products — which were supplied to 525 companies, from major automakers to bullet train operators.
Automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. have said Kobe Steel materials were used in their products but that they have not found any safety problems.