The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has commenced enforcement activities against substandard steel products in different parts of the country, in line with its mandate of ensuring fair trade and protecting the public and environment against dangerous and sub-standard products.
The resumed enforcement exercise follows expiry of the January 31st, 2022 ultimatum issued by UNBS to all manufacturers of steel products to recall all substandard products on the market.
During a steel sector meeting on standards held on 19th January 2022 convened by UNBS, attended by Steel sector manufacturers and hard ware dealers, the following resolutions were made; all steel products manufacturers liaise with their downstream supply chains to recall all substandard products by 31st January 2022.
Any substandard steel products found on the market starting 1st February 2022 shall be seized by UNBS. Manufacturers of the substandard products will be prosecuted in courts of law and substandard materials shall be destroyed at the cost of the manufacturer.
Despite the ultimatum issued, UNBS has so far seized approximately 15,500kgs of substandard ribbed steel bars and hollow sections worth over Shs640 million in the Kampala Metropolitan area.
The UNBS operations that kicked off in Kampala last week are to continue to different regions in the country.
UNBS developed quality standards for steel products available on the UNBS website via https://webstore.unbs.go.ug for public knowledge of good quality construction materials.
UNBS urges all manufacturers of steel products to ensure that their products meet the quality standards and are certified by UNBS, and all middlemen, hardware dealers and importers to ensure that they deal in only certified steel products and consumers to verify the quality of materials before purchasing them.
