Local manufacturers welcomed the seizure and subsequent destruction of P740,000 worth of substandard steel angle bars conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry – Bureau of Product Standards (DTI-BPS), noting that this is a big step toward protecting the public against the sale and use of hazardous sub-quality construction products.
The Steel Angles, Shapes, and Sections Manufacturers Association of the Philippines Inc. (SASSMAPI) said its members fully support the DTI-BPS in going after sources of substandard steel products, especially now that the country is bracing for powerful quakes that may be caused by the imminent movement of several active Philippine fault lines.
“We laud the efforts of the DTI-BPS in strictly enforcing the product standard guidelines for critical products like angle bars that have multiple applications, including the construction of houses, buildings, and billboards. We have to make sure that these structures are only using angle bars that passed the quality standards set by the government because of the frequent typhoons and earthquakes that we are experiencing,” SASSMAPI President, Ramon Tan stressed.
The DTI-BPS reported that it prevented the sale and distribution of 600 pieces of substandard equal-leg steel angle bars worth P740,000 that were seized in Valenzuela City after they were found to be “non-conforming” with the elongation requirement of Philippine National Standard (PNS) 657:2008 (Hot-Rolled Steel Sections-Equal-leg Angles-Specifications) as confirmed by third-party testing.
The substandard equal-leg steel angle bars were destroyed in the presence of DTI-BPS representatives last January 20 at the manufacturer’s warehouse in Valenzuela City using an oxy-acetylene torch prior to transfer to the manufacturer’s smelting facility. The agency did not disclose the identity of the manufacturer.
Tan noted that the PNS 657:2008 quality standard on elongation is critical as it sets the parameters for the permanent extension in the gauge length of a steel bar measured after rupture.
SASSMAPI, Tan said, is ready to lend its resources to the DTI –BPS in enforcing the quality standards for equal-leg steel angle bars. It is among the 111 products covered under the BPS’s Mandatory Product Certification Schemes.
The DTI-BPS is implementing two mandatory product certification schemes consisting of the Philippine Standard (PS) Quality and Safety Certification Mark Licensing Scheme and the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC).
“Products covered by the mandatory certification, whether locally manufactured or imported, are not allowed to be distributed in the Philippine market without the necessary PS or ICC marks,” the DTI said.