The European glass fibre producers, who manufacture glass fibre for the heat insulation of sieve buildings, have united and with the help of the European Commission seek to ensure the application of anti-dumping conditions to the Chinese companies supplying this sieve, says AS Valmieras stikla škiedra (VSŠ) President Andris Oskars Brutans (Brutans).

«With the assistance of the European Commission we wish to prevent the sale of Chinese products at dumping prices and to attain a normal market situation. We hope that the Chinese products will be assigned to a greater import duty at the European Union market,» Brutans reveals to Nozare.lv.

He explains that the Chinese producers supply sieve at dumped prices and it has very poor quality – the breaking load for this sieve is by 30% lower than for the ones produced in Europe. Also, the alkaline environment resistance is lower. The plaster of buildings is alkalescent and the Chinese sieves cannot hold it – in two or three year’s time the plaster simply falls off, Brutans notes.
«Unfortunately, at the moment when dumping offers dominate Latvia’s construction tenders, the cheapest materials are used. When after three years the plaster comes off, the construction worker does not take any responsibility. We have caught unfair traders who sold Chinese sieve with VSŠ certificates. Presently, the consumer rights protection in Latvia’s construction material market is rather inactive, therefore, such cases are possible,» Brutans points out.

Together with major Latvian construction material producers, VSŠ joined into the Construction Material Producers’ Association in spring 2010. Moreover, construction material quality standards have been developed, but Latvia’s problem is that nobody controls the observance of these standards, Brutans says. In other countries it is not possible to sell building materials without a corresponding quality certificate, the businessman asserts.