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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Ensure cement quality, MOCI tells traders, consumers

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MUSCAT: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has urged all traders and consumers to make sure that they use the cement products which conform to the standard specifications.


The ministry has noticed that cement products which do not conform to the Sultanate’s standard specifications are being imported from outside the country and sold here to be used in construction works. Some people are importing these types of cements due to their low prices without checking whether they are in accordance with the standard specifications of the Sultanate. Such practices adversely affect the construction in which they are used. It decreases quality of construction, and later cracks and other issues appear.


The ministry said that it would take legal action, in cooperation with the authorities, to control the entry of such products to the Sultanate either through trade route or by the consumers themselves. The ministry intends to do so because such cement products are harmful. It said that consumers should be sure about the quality of these cement products. The Directorate-General of Standards and Metrology tests the sample of these types of cement in the laboratory and construction materials to confirm the quality of these products. These laboratories are neutral and third party organisations; they are not related to any production organisations. They also do not have any relations with the promotion of any of these products.


The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that there were different types of cement products and different uses in construction works such as ordinary Portland cement, which is used in construction work in general, such as the construction of concrete structures for buildings.


The ministry said that it continuously monitors the cement products entering the Sultanate. Ministerial order No 60/2011 is in place to regulate examination and testing of building and construction materials including bricks, tiles, ceramics, rebar, aluminium, glass, paint, wood, metal and non-metallic pipes.


These rules oblige the manufacturer to submit a test report to the authority concerned about all building and construction materials it produces every four months at the most. The importer is obliged to submit a test report to the authority concerned once a year. Each consignment imported must have a conformity certificate. If consignment does not have such a certificate, it would be sent for examination and testing to a registered laboratory for which the importer will have to bear the costs.


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