Philippine Steel Mills Advocate Strict Steel Quality Control

Philippine steelmakers have asked the Department of Commerce and Industry at the national level to take over control of mandatory products to strengthen the fight against substandard products. Roberto M Cola, President of the Philippines Iron and Steel Institute, said: “DTI must once again take over the regional monitoring of steel products. This will ensure objectivity and compliance with standards in contrast to the existing installation.

The system now allows retailers to know when regional DTI employees are going to monitor, as they are believed to have connections with some retail executives in their provinces; thus giving them time to hide their substandard products. The current directive is that the provincial DTI offices should monitor the market. It's not just in fittings, but in everything from electrical items to hazardous materials. The problem is that those monitoring them are either friends or relatives of the hardware store owners. They know the owners since they have been in the province for a long time. So it is difficult to be objective, it is like a regulatory grip. They cannot audit and monitor without the risk of being subjective. "

Mr. Cola recalled how successful the previous system had been. He said: “It used to be that the DTI head office, through the Bureau of Product Standards, travels around the country to monitor. At that time, the advantage is that the warehouse stores in the regions do not know that there will be a team in their area. At the time, DTI also collaborated with industrial groups producing steel, electrical products, batteries and even tires. ”