THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) ordered the destruction of P18.8 million worth of substandard steel bars after they were found non-compliant with government standards.
In a statement over the weekend, the DTI said that 136 bundles of deformed steel bars were cut to pieces on June 7-9 at a steel mill in Laguna.
The Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS) had conducted a surprise factory audit on March 20. The DTI did not identify the company involved.
“After the products were cut into non-commercial lengths, the same were transferred to the company’s smelting facility for reprocessing,” the DTI said.
The DTI said that samples taken from the steel bars showed that the products failed to meet Philippine National Standard 49:2020.
“Sub-standard products must be destroyed immediately to ensure that these products are not distributed in the market for the purchase of unknowing consumers,” Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said.
“Our country is located within the Pacific Ring of Fire and the DTI needs to be extremely vigilant and has to intensify our surveillance, monitoring, and enforcement of technical regulations for construction materials, especially for cement and steel products,” he added.
According to the DTI, the BPS conducted the surprise audit after the reported sale of steel bars under an unregistered logo. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
