The Department of Trade and Industry has ordered the destruction of P18.8 million worth of sub-standard steel bars produced by a local steel mill in Laguna.
The defective steel bars were discovered during a surprise factory audit conducted by the DTI’s Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS) on March 20, 2023.
The DTI-BPS conducted the surprise audit following a report from a concerned citizen about steel bars in the market bearing an alleged unregistered logo.
During the audit, BPS auditors discovered inconsistencies in the markings of the deformed steel bars, which failed to meet the prescribed regulations outlined in DAO 18-08:2018 and MC 21-07:2021 governing the mandatory certification of steel products.
To confirm the sub-standard quality, random samples of the steel bars were independently tested at the BPS Product Testing Laboratory. The results revealed non-conformance to the requirements of PNS 49:2020, the reference Philippine National Standard for deformed steel bars, particularly regarding elongation, height of lugs, average spacing, mass variations, and marking requirements.
The BPS will only allow the manufacturer to resume operations and production after successful completion of the verification audit and obtaining conforming third-party test results for the affected products.
Pascual urged all manufacturers to consistently adhere to regulations, ensuring the production and distribution of high-quality and safe products.
