40 percent increase in import of low-quality DVD palyers (illustration)
‘Dangerous DVDs flooding local market’
Thousands of DVD players confiscated due to excessive levels of radiation
Tens of thousands of substandard and dangerous DVD players are being imported into the country, mainly from China.
The Standards Institution of Israel has recently examined three shipments of DVD’s and confiscated 41,000 of them due to excessive levels of radiation.
Standards Institution of Israel General Director Ziva Patir said excessive DVD radiation might result in the malfunction of pacemakers.
“The increase in cheap imports from China has brought about a phenomenon whereby cheap and low-quality appliances are overflowing the Israeli market,” she said.
“This phenomenon is prevalent mainly in the electronics and electrical appliance field.”
Yaakov Ventel, director of the Standards Institution of Israel’s Industry Department, said the latest shipment of substandard DVDs had almost made its way into the country.
“Initially, the importer sent the Standards Institution of Israel a sample DVD player that withstood the tests, but during the actual shipment it turned out the Chinese manufacturer removed essential components from the appliances, sometimes without the importer’s knowledge.”
Since the beginning of 2004, the import of DVD players that do not comply with Standards Institution of Israel demands has risen by more than 40 percent.
