Japan to toughen car recall law

Japan is preparing to overhaul its laws on car recalls in response to a massive cover-up of defective vehicles, according to a national newspaper.

Pressure to tighten surveillance and toughen penalties has been mounting following revelations Mitsubishi Motors Corp failed to report thousands of owner complaints about defects for more than 20 years.

In July 2000 regulators found records stashed away in an employee locker room during a surprise inspection at the company's headquarters.

Mitsubishi, Japan's fourth-biggest car company, belatedly recalled more than 2 million cars and trucks in an unprecedented move that dealt a heavy blow to consumer confidence.

To prevent similar scandals, officials at Japan's Transport Ministry are working on revisions of a 33-year-old set of legal provisions that leave the initiative for recalls entirely in the hands of car makers.

The revisions to the Road Vehicle Act will give industry regulators the authority to order firms to recall defective vehicles, the report in the Asahi newspaper said. Fines for failure to comply may run as high as 100 million yen (€853.85m), the report said.

Currently Japanese regulators can only recommend a recall, and non-compliance carries no penalties except negative publicity.

Penalties for neglecting to report information about defects will also be stiffened, the newspaper quoted ministry sources as saying. Mitsubishi Motors was fined only 4 million yen (€34,100) by a Tokyo court following its cover-up scandal.

The revised legislation will be submitted to Japan's Parliament for debate during a new session slated to convene Monday, the Asahi said.