BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Half of all dangerous products seized by European customs and product safety authorities last year came from China, the European Commission said yesterday.

The EU stressed that this was partly explained by the huge amounts of goods China exports to Europe and stronger product checks following the "summer of recalls" last year in which toy maker Mattel Inc. withdrew millions of Chinese-made toys from shops.

The EU warned that consumer confidence in Chinese goods has fallen dramatically and said that "much work will need to be done if China is to regain the trust of European citizens in its products".

The European Union's rapid alert system flagged 1,605 dangerous products last year — up 53 percent from 1,051 the previous year. National authorities in the EU's 27 nations use the system to circulate information on toxic goods to aid product recalls.

Toys sounded a quarter of the alarms, followed by cars and electrical appliances. The system does not cover food. "More than one out of three products notified was either a toy or a childcare article, showing the importance that market surveillance authorities place on checking this category," the EU said in a statement.

China is still the main source of dangerous goods, it said, with Chinese alerts up slightly from 2006.

The EU executive said this reflected the huge volume of Chinese trade — about 80 percent of all toys come from China — and tighter checks on products from China.

EU regulators said Chinese authorities are now investigating many of these alerts but took action in just under half of cases. It was not able to counter under a third of the problems because the manufacturer could not be traced.

European officials praised China's "significant effort" to strengthen controls on toys but said the number of product alerts showed there were still major problems with product safety at the lower end of the market.

China has audited 3,540 manufacturers with export licences, it said, and 701 companies lost their right to export because of insufficient safety control systems.