(Business in Cameroon) - The Cameroonian Organization of steel processors (OCITA) has recently informed the director-general of the Quality and Standards Agency, along with the ministers of trade, finance, and industry, about the sale of substandard reinforcing steel by a domestic company. This local company is offering steel products that fail to meet the quality standards set by the country. OCITA issued these alerts on June 12 and June 13, respectively.

With its letters addressed to the ministers and director-general, the OCITA added the result of a product test supporting its claim. "After analysis, our monitoring services report that the 500-grade iron that this local company makes and sells does not even meet the requirements for 400-grade iron. This situation inevitably reflects a serious breach of trust towards the authorities and consumers, as well as a disregard for current regulations (...) As a result, the industries that are members of our organization disclaim all responsibility for any commercial, financial, and security damages, potential and unwanted collapses of buildings, due to the use of this inappropriate reinforcing iron", OCITA wrote.

The whistleblower, hence, asked the government to take immediate steps against the firm at fault. Among others, it recommended seizing non-compliant reinforcing steel on the market; stopping production of these products; checking conformity certificates that the ANOR issued to producers; checking for production traceability reports; or reinforcing market control. By undertaking this action, all potential risks to the quality of ferrous products would be eliminated, thereby safeguarding consumers and ensuring the unhindered development of quality infrastructure.

Fiscal challenge

Reached out by Business in Cameroon, an authorized source from the Ministry of Trade revealed that the National Anti-Fraud and Repression Brigade dispatched, on June 15, teams to look into the matter. “The teams were deployed in Douala and Yaoundé yesterday (Ed. note: June 15),” the source indicated without, however, linking the dispatch with OCITA’s claim.

"There's more than just a problem of quality and standard compliance in this rebar issue. We have also received numerous reports of cheating by local producers who benefit from the free zone regime. Under this regime, products are destined for export and therefore are not subject to duties and taxes. But increasingly, operators are cheating by fraudulently dumping their products on the local market, thereby creating unfair competition against other producers," our source added.

Brice R. Mbodiam