BY MOBIN PANDIT
Many in the local trade and industry are fuming as Qatar has begun tightening screws on imports, insisting that the goods entering its market must meet unified GCC benchmarks for quality, which experts agree are world-class.
It has taken the GCC states years of collective hard work to come up with what today are unified standards and specifications for products and services of various types across sectors.
Particularly riled are the retailers of automotive tyres and spare parts in the country as strict quality norms mean that much of what they imported earlier can’t be allowed into the country anymore.
And the increasingly popular balloon tryes are top the list of the banned items due to what the authorities insist is their non-suitability in Qatar’s harsh weather conditions. The increasing use of balloon tyres is being linked by experts to the high rate of road accidents in the country.
If market operators are to be believed, the ban has not led to non-availability of balloon tyres. They indeed are available but in a thriving black market.
“A 16-inch balloon tyre, for instance, which was earlier available for QR550 is now available for QR800 on average,” a retailer of tyres and springs, Abdullah Ahmed, told local Arabic daily Al Raya in remarks published late last week.
“A black market of balloon tyres has emerged and has been thriving,” Ahmed claimed.
A 17-inch tyre costs QR1,000 in the black market, he added. “Earlier, it cost QR650.”
Another tyre dealer, Rashid Al Nuaimi, was more specific and told the daily how the banned tryes were entering the country and landing on the black market in a big way.
“It is transport companies that are getting them here, and we are paying them premium,” said Al Nuaimi.
“For 20,000 balloon tyres, for instance, the money being paid is QR150,000.” These transporters are able to avoid quality approvals, he added.
Some get some of the banned tryes from neighbouring states, he added. High shop rents and now the “difficulties” created by the country’s standards agency are forcing many of an estimated 1,500 tyre retailers in Doha to close shop. I am paying QR40,000 rent for my shop.”
The problem with Qatar Standards and Specifications Authority, now affiliated with the Ministry of Environment, is that it doesn’t ask businessmen to send samples of what is to be imported for laboratory tests before the import.
“They tell us about tests to be done only after the imported items have arrived… And since there are no labs here, we must send the samples overseas,” said Abdullah Ahmed.
“As a result, our import consignments are stuck at the Doha Port for months on end and we have to pay huge fines,” said Al Nuaimi.
If not approved, the consignments are sent back to their countries of origin. And these countries treat them as re-exports and imposes taxes. “Our losses double as a consequence,” he claimed.
“Why can’t they tell us six months in advance that we would be needing approval for quality as per new norms for our imports?
“There are no labs in Qatar, so why don’t they tell us which labs to go to for testing? We can go there before our imports arrive,” said Al Nuaimi.
Automobile spare parts dealers say they are equally harassed and have been suffering losses to the tune of millions of riyals due to what they claim are complicated unified GCC standards and specifications and a more complex approval process.
“It has been a nightmare… We came to know of the new standards when we went to the port to claim our consignments,” said auto spare parts dealer, Nidal Yasser Al Sheikh.
“Literally out of the blue, they asked me to get quality certification for the unified GCC standards,” he said in comments published by Al Raya on October 27.
There are an estimated 2,000 auto spare parts dealers in Doha and they have been suffering huge losses due to the new norms, he added.
“Presently, the daily fine per container per stuck at Doha Port is between QR50 and QR70,” said Al Sheikh.
“Sometimes we get quality certification from a lab but they say the lab is not accredited.”
Al Sheikh said all this boils down to wasted money, which adds to inflation and its burden is borne by no one but the common man.
“Our woes don’t end here. For example, there are no GCC benchmarks for brake pads. So imagine how do we get them here?”
The government is tracking quality in public interest. “But, then, who takes care of businessmen’s interests?” Al Sheikh wondered.
Early last week, a small metal factory owner in the Industrial Area told a popular call-in programme of Qatar Radio that his unit was suffering as he was not able to import spare parts for machineries.
Mohamed Al Bashri said consignments of machinery spare parts of many small factories were stuck at the Doha Port for want of approval from the standards agency. “Many small and medium enterprises are suffering,” he said.
Prominent businessman, Ahmed Al Khalaf, a major food importer, told this newspaper that his imports remained stuck at the Doha Port even though he had quality certification as required by the Standards and Specifications Authority.
“Delayed paperwork is to blame for it. Imagine this is food! So far we have paid fines for the stuck containers that are more than the price of the imported food items,” said Al Khalaf.
Clearly, there is a lack of communication between the Authority and the business community on the new rules.
“Many businessmen came to know of the changed rules from Qatar Chamber, some from newspapers and friends and acquaintances… This is a bureaucratic problem,” said Al Khalaf.
He said the Environment Minister should intervene and help end the suffering of the people.
Why on earth people should wait for quality certification until the imported consignments arrive? The certification can be issued beforehand.
“Take the example of the UAE. They are not implementing the unified GCC norms 100 percent in all areas. In some areas, they are, so why shouldn’t we be flexible as well?” asked Al Khalaf.
Meanwhile, newspaper columnist, Faisal Al Marzouki, claimed in his column on the issue last week that while businessmen waited for the Assistant Undersecretary for the Standards and Specifications Authority at the Environment Ministry, Dr Mohamed Saif Al Kuwari, in the reception area of his office, he exited from the back door leaving them in the lurch. “That’s not exit, that’s escape,” Al Marzouki said.
Public servants must not do that as that’s irresponsible. “Their job is to serve people. The people who wait for a bureaucrat are all small and medium businessmen. The big shots get their work done on the phone. They don’t need to come to a public servant,” said Al Marzouki. Harassed as they feel, some businessmen are fleeing the country with their capital, claimed the columnist.
Mahmoud Younus, Chairman, Qatari Engineering Business Company, said Qatar has specifications for construction materials as well as those to ensure the quality of buildings.
But while the quality of construction materials is ensured, the quality of a building is left to the mercy of the engineering consultant.
There is, thus, the need for the municipality concerned to monitor the quality of the buildings under construction as is the case in the UAE. This would ensure there is no compromise on the quality of buildings, said Younus.
(Mohamed Osman contributed to reporting)
The Peninsula
