Posted on 11 Jul 2016
Steel makers are urging Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez to review the policy on the grant of import commodity clearance (ICC) as part of efforts to realize the pledge of President Duterte for level playing field in the conduct of business during his administration.
The Philippine Iron and Steel Institute and the Steel, Angles, Shapes and Sections Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (SASSMAPI) have been seeking the assistance of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) after the reported questionable issuance of ICC to some steel shipments in the last few months.
SASSMAPI, in particular, cited the market-monitoring operation and inspection of 50 hardware stores conducted by the DTI that led to the confiscation of 774 pieces of substandard angle bars worth approximately P200,000 from four stores recently. Trade Undersecretary Mario Victorio Dimagiba said DTI will further investigate on these four stores and their suppliers as manufacturers and importers of steel bars will be held liable if found selling imported products without ICC or in violation of labeling and weight requirements. Administrative fine of P150,000 shall be imposed, aside from having their products seized.
SASSMAPI earlier alerted the DTI on the importation of New Fruitlife, Inc. In its letter to lawyer Ann Claire C. Cabochan, director of the DTI-Bureau of Product Standards, SASSMAPI said it conducted a test-buy on June 3, in Nueva Ecija. Ten steel angle-bar samples were bought from Sergie Trading and Greenhouse Hardware and Lumber bearing the logo/marking of New Fruitlife and physical test results showed that six out of the 10 samples, or 60 percent failed in mass.
“In the interest of transparency and public safety, the industry association would like to request for a copy of the test results of the samples tested by your inspection body done at New Fruitlife’s warehouse which were used as basis to grant them the final ICC,” SASSMAPI said in its letter to Cabochan.
The industry association wants the DTI to investigate how angle bars from New Fruitlife, which imported 5,483 metric tons of steel angle bars in the last five months, were granted ICC. The group also wants the DTI to probe the angle bars imported by Sking International, which found their way into the market even without any ICC.
“The industry association requests that DTI-BPS strictly enforce proper testing and adequate sampling on products with mandatory standards such as steel angle bars to ensure the safety of the general public. Strict penalties should be imposed to manufacturers and importers who fail to satisfy these standards,” SASSMAPI said.
It noted that this should be included in the priorities of Lopez when he takes over the helm of the DTI as previous warnings and alerts by SASSMAPI to the bureau have been unheeded, resulting in substandard steel angle bars by various importers flooding the local market, endangering the safety of the general public. SASSMAPI also said the industry should be allowed to witness the sampling of succeeding shipments because with its technical knowledge and DTI-BPS’ enforcement, “repeat violators would be deterred from bringing in non-conforming steel angle bars.”
