MIRI: The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) is prepared to impose mandatory standards on other products other than imported iron and steel to avoid the inflow of low-quality goods into the country.

Its Deputy Minister, Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan, said the ministry would monitor the inflow of other imports which were expected to increase following the implementation of the Asean Free Trade Area next year.

"We cannot allow our country to be a dumping ground for low quality imports," he told a media briefing after opening a workshop on Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Halal Industry organised by SME Corp Malaysia here.

Sagan said the enforcement of mandatory standards for iron and steel was undertaken by Sirim Bhd since Oct 13 this year after being delayed for about two months.

Under the ruling, only imported steel products bearing the Sirim Certificate of Approval would be allowed into the country.

However, screws, bolts and nuts made of iron or steel, as well as scrap iron, iron ore and articles that had iron and steel products would be exempted from the tests. He said Sirim's fees of between RM1,850 and RM2,000 for testing and verification were accepted by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and Malaysia Iron and Steel Industry Federation.

Sagan said he would propose that Miti set up another office in Sarawak to facilitate SMEs to seek business development assistance from its agencies.

"Logistic constraint is one of the reasons for the poor response from SMEs in the state towards the ministry's business assistance.

Earlier, Sagan said between January and Sept 30 this year, only 26 applications from Sarawak were approved for assistance under the halal product development and promotion worth about RM970,000.

"Nationwide, a total of 289 applications involving assistance worth RM16.76 million were approved during the period," he said. - BERNAMA