For selling substandard steel pipes
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to penalize seven hardware stores here if found to be selling substandard steel pipes.
Edwin Banquerigo, chief of the local DTI office, said the erring hardware stores were among those monitored by a nationwide private-led initiative to prevent the proliferation of substandard steel pipes.
Banquerigo said they will wait for the final findings of the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) before any penalty can be meted out on the stores.
According to Banquerigo, the stores were reportedly selling steel pipes that do not conform with the specification required by the Philippine National Standard (PNS) 26:1992. This means that the steel products weigh much lower than the minus 10-percent allowance.
Banquerigo said he was not aware how and what weighing scale was used by the private team in its monitoring; DTI was not part of the private monitoring team.
“We are still waiting for the action of the BPS which should look deeper into it,” Banquerigo said.
Banquerigo assured DTI follows testing protocol and uses a weighing scale calibrated by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
He said DTI welcomes the private-led monitoring initiative because it serves as a deterrent against erring companies in the industry.
“It is industry policing measure…so it is not only DTI monitoring but also the industry to ensure the quality of products. At times they also request joint monitoring,” he said. (Lilian C Mellejor/PNA)
