SUSPENSION OF MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION OF RIBBED BARS BY GREAT STEEL LIMITED

  23rd September , 2016 ,       Hits: 450

Background :

UNBS conducted surveillance inspections on 25th July and 1^st August 2016 in Matuga, Wakiso District and found out that hardware shops in the area were selling substandard ribbed bars manufactured and distributed by Great Steel Ltd. Further inspections were conducted on 30^th August in Masaka and 9^th September 2016 in Kasangati.

The findings in all inspections indicated that Great Steel Limited was manufacturing and distributing unmarked and underweight ribbed bars on the market contrary to the requirements of US EAS 412-2:2013. These non-conformances among others raise concerns about the quality of company’s ribbed bars and pose a risk to safety in construction industry.

Action taken

UNBS directed the company to:

1. Immediately suspend the manufacture and distribution of ribbed bars,
2. Recall from the market all the substandard/unmarked ribbed bars that were distributed by them or their agents,
3. Provide UNBS documented evidence of activities related to product recall from the market.

Meanwhile, UNBS has handed over the case of Great Steel Ltd to Police for further management.

The General Public is advised to always buy reinforcement bars which are labelled with the name of manufacturer and the size of the bars, and contact Uganda National Bureau of Standards in case of reinforcement bars which are not labelled.

Surveillance of the Market

UNBS continued to conduct surveillance of the market to ensure that no substandard reinforcement bars remain in circulation. During our routine surveillance, 28 tons of substandard reinforcement bars have been seized from the market including those from Matuga in operations conducted in August, Kasangati in an operation conducted on 9^th September 2016 and Masaka in a joint operation with URA where tracks were intercepted on 30^th August 2016 with substandard reinforcement bars worth UGX 51 million.                                            .

The Bars were not meeting labelling, chemical and physical parameters specified in the standards. The size of bars was marked as 12 mm but on measurement, it was determined that the bars were 10 mm in diameter.

Quality Requirements

The Uganda Standard for reinforcement bars requires all bars manufactured and distributed in Uganda to meet the labelling, physical and chemical requirements as specified in the standard.

 

Eng. Jackson Kabikire Mubangizi

MANAGER SURVEILLANCE DEPARTMENT.

070-1-404001

UGANDA NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

Plot 2 – 12, Bypass Link, Bweyogerere Industrial & Business Park, Kyaliwajala Road,

P.O Box 6329 Kampala, Uganda

Telephone: 0417 – 333 250, 0417 – 333 251, 0417 – 333 252,

Toll-free 0800 133 133.

Website: www.unbs.go.ug , Email: info@unbs.go.ug. , Facebook:UNBSug , Twitter: @UNBSug