The Philippine Cement Importers Association is pushing for stricter quality tests to prevent the entry of substandard or defective cement into the domestic market.
In a statement, the PCIA expressed strong support for the Bureau of Philippine Standards' new Department Administrative Order concerning mandatory certification of cement products, saying that the draft DAO is consistent with the International Organization for Standardization where the Philippines is a member and with the Key Principles and Obligations of the International Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade administered by the World Trade Organization.
PCIA executive director Dani Enriquez said his group recommends that aside from the Product Quality/Standard License requirement for cement importers, a pre-shipment testing at the port of origin should be done as it prevents poor quality products from reaching the country.
“If the imported cement products are brought in and tested in the Philippines as proposed by some sectors, what happens if they fail the standards test” Enriquez asked.
“What guarantees do we have that they will be shipped back to their country of origin? Unscrupulous importers who are bound to lose hundreds of millions will definitely find a way to smuggle into the market these sub-standard cement which will be easy since the products are already here in the Philippines,” Enriquez pointed out.
“The claim of some local cement manufacturers that the new DAO proposes diminution of the minimum quality standards is false and baseless. All Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-BPS DAO’s concerning Product Quality Standards and Testing methodologies are based on Philippine National Standards [PNS] and ISO,” Enriquez said.
“No industry group has a monopoly when it comes to concerns about consumer welfare and protection. That is why we are recommending additional safeguards, such as the pre-shipment test and a 10 percent surety bond for every shipment on top of the mandatory requirements,” the PCIA head emphasized.
“In actual practice, when cement is tested at the country of origin and if ever cement fails the quality test, they are simply rejected by the trader and replaced by good ones. This is also assured since the trader will not allow withdrawal from the Letter of Credit issued. In addition, the BPS in its new DAO intends to conduct a redundant product verification test to counter-check the pre-shipment test report. Inarguably, pre-shipment testing prevents poor quality cement from landing in the Philippines,” Enriquez said.