Makers of Autoclave Aerated Concrete protest against low quality imports

Members of the PROBCA association, which brings together the main ACC makers in Romania, are extremely unhappy with the total lack of interest displayed by Romanian authorities when it comes to the import of masonry materials from Serbia, Croatia, Turkey, Hungary and Bulgaria. According to the press release, the PROBCA association is requesting the halting of masonry materials imports, starting September 1st, until the implementation of a system that would allow the verification of all the chemical, mechanical and physical features of imported products and their compliance with existing regulations and standards.

In allowing these massive imports to continue unchecked, the Government essentially helps keep jobs in the neighboring countries, to the detriment of Romania. Officials of PROBCA have outlined that encouraging the importation of lesser quality materials raises doubts about construction safety.

"It bears reminding that the major ACC producers in the country, which are members of the PROBCA Association, are major taxpayers, and every job created by these companies supports four other jobs in ancillary industries. The continuation of these policies concerning uncontrolled imports of masonry materials from the five countries mentioned before, will only lead to the reduction of jobs in Romania and an implicit drop in tax revenues for the state", the press release says.

The leaders of the association requested that the Ministry of the Economy increase the natural gas quota allocated to the members of the PROBCA Association. The officials of the Association said: "This week, we will submit written protests to the President, the Government and the Prime Minister, to the Ministry of the Economy, to the Ministry of Regional Development and Housing, the State Construction Inspectorate and the Permanent Technical Advisory Council for Construction. We will request a meeting with the members of the Government in which we will present our suggestions for tackling the issues this particular sector of the construction industry is facing".