French customs said today they had seized 20,000 anti-mosquito plugs shipped in from China that risked electrocuting people, in the latest product safety scare.
The customs head office said the plugs -- which were due to be delivered to an importer in the Paris region -- were seized in the northern port city of Le Havre and found to be "dangerous" after analysis.
Among other things, authorities found there was a risk of people electrocuting themselves if they used the plugs.
"Customs services have dealt with nearly 20 cases pertaining to anti-mosquito devices in just a few months," the head office said in a statement.
"That's nearly 280,000 items that did not conform with regulations, including more than a third that were found to be dangerous, with problems of insulation."
It is unclear whether all the items came from China, where quality regulations are lax and often unenforced, leading to a string of global safety scares in recent years involving toys, milk and other items.
But the manufacturing powerhouse has also been a victim of safety scares involving foreign products imported into the country.
New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, for instance, has had to enact a global recall of baby formula distributed in China and other countries, which was tainted with bacteria that can cause botulism, a potentially deadly paralytic illness.
