UNBS suspends importation and production of ribbed bars

The National Bureau of standards (UNBS) has suspended the importation and production of the ribbed bars from Great Steel ltd.

UNBS conducted surveillance inspections in July and August 2016 in Matuga, Masaka and Kasangati and found out that hardware shops in the area were selling substandard ribbed bars.

"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," said Eng. Jackson Mubangizi, the manager surveillance department.

Mubangizi also noted that they directed the company to suspend the manufacture and distribution of ribbed bars, the Bureau recalled from the market all the substandard/unmarked ribbed bars that were distributed by them or their agents.

Provide UNBS documented evidence of activities related to product recall from the market. UNBS  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," said Barbara Kamusiime, the UNBS public relations.

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 9th September 2016 and Masaka in a joint operation with URA where tracks were intercepted on 30th 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.

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.