ANSA halts import of over 128,000 tonnes of low quality petroleum products

’KABUL (Pajhwok): The import of over 128,000 tonnes of low quality petroleum products and 152 tonnes of construction materials was thwarted in the past year, an official said on Wednesday.

Waheed Ahmad Badri, spokesperson for the Afghanistan National Standards Authority (ANSA), told reporters here over 3.5 million petroleum products have been tested in the Afghanistan ports out of which 128,811 tonnes were proved to be below the standard and prevented from being imported to the country.

He said during the period the quality of 7.3 tonnes of construction materials have been tested out of which 152 tonnes were proved below the standard.

He said during the last year, it has edited 91 new standards in the fields of petroleum, construction, environmental protection, chemical and plastic, food and agricultural products, textile and leather, electro-technical and telecommunication, mining, health and medical devices.

He said ANSA generated over 2.2 billion afs of revenue during the past one year.

Badri said at the request of the ANSA and according to the order of the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), in coordination with the legal and judicial institutions, a draft law to deal the violators of the laws and importers of low-quality has been finalized and has been sent to the Supreme Court for approval

After the approval of the law all violators would be punished in line with Sharia Law, he added.

Mawlavi Mohammad Asif Qanit, technical head of the ANSA, said the ANSA has edited more than 800 standards regarding geographical, climatic, environmental and economic conditions, as well as six codes in the areas of urban development, engineering and the design of buildings, bridges, highways and roads.

He said technical and skilled staff of the ANSA has registered 4,932 different standards of different tools and equipment related to ministries and institutions.

He asked businessmen that their products should meet the ANSA standards and norms.

Mufti Mohammad Hamid, head of the ANSA plan and policy, said It is an active member of the International Organization for Standardization, the Institute of Standards and Metrology of the Islamic Countries, the South Asian Regional Standards Organization and the Eco-Rescom Organization.

He said drafts agreement of bilateral cooperation agreements with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the fields of standard building, conformity assessment, metrology and quality certification have been finalized and officially sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said in 2022, over 100,000 tankers of petroleum products arrived to the country ports out of which 2,000 tankers were sent back due to the low quality of its product.

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