Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has urged all traders and consumers to make sure that they don't use cement products that do not conform to standard specifications.
MoCI said in a statement online: "The ministry has noticed that such cement products are being imported from outside the Sultanate of Oman and sold here to be used in construction works. Some people are importing these types of cement due to their low prices without confirming their matching with the standard specifications of the Sultanate. Such practices adversely affect the construction in which they are used where cracks and other issues appear."
The ministry said that it would take legal actions, in cooperation with the concerned authorities, to control the entry of such products to the Sultanate of Oman either through trade route or by the consumers themselves.
"There are different types of cement products and different uses in construction work such as ordinary portland cement, which is used in construction work in general, such as the construction of concrete structures for buildings," the ministry explained.
The ministry intends to do so because such cement products are harmful. MoCI confirmed that: "The directorate general of standards and metrology tests the samples of these cements in the physics laboratory and construction materials to confirm the compliance of these products with the technical rules and specifications of the country. These laboratories are neutral and third-party organizations which tests the products. They are not related to any production organization. They also do not have any relation to the promotion of any products."
The MoCI also said that it continuously monitors the cement products entering the Sultanate. A ministerial order no. 60/2011 is in place to regulate the examination and testing of building and construction materials including bricks, tiles, ceramics, rebar, aluminum, glass, paint, wood, metal and non-metallic pipes.
