Glass

What happens if glass ceilings break? No, I’m not referring to the metaphorical kind. I’m imagining the actual glass ceiling in a sky scraper. Will the glass break into a thousand little jagged pieces or into large sharp shards? It’s not quite a pleasant picture, so I hope it doesn’t happen. Let’s just stick to breaking the metaphorical glass ceiling.

I thought of this because I had a chat recently with Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez regarding glass products -- from glass ceilings to giant glass, to the window glass in our very own homes.

I heard there’s a lot of buzz going around among glass industry stakeholders over the trade department’s proposed new technical rules on glass products.

Importers versus local players

Sec. Mon said this is because the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is mulling amendments to an administrative order it issued last March.

The AO supposedly sets new technical rules and stipulates mandatory product certification for local and imported flat glass and other glass products.

However, a Makati Regional Trial Court issued a preliminary injunction against the DTI order, in response to a petition filed by glass importers.

“We are reviewing the petition,” Sec. Mon told me.

Importers don’t want imported glass products to undergo quality tests and secure import commodity clearance marks before they are cleared for sale in the market.

But the order simply aligns standards in the glass industry as with other industries such as cement, steel, and construction materials. I wonder why importers are crying foul.

Nevertheless, the DTI is reviewing the AO because of the injunction issued by the court against it.

Sec. Mon said the department is particularly looking into the possibility of limiting the scope of the administrative order to “standard” flat glass and excluding “customised” glass sourced abroad.

This means that so-called customised glass ordered for specific building projects need not be go through the usual quality check unlike glass sold at retail outlets.

Sec. Mon said the safety check should be done by the sellers and by the proponents of the specific building proponents.

Not surprisingly, local industry players don’t want this. They say it would be too risky. What standards will be used? Who decides the parameters and minimum thresholds of so-called standards? Who checks the checkers? These are just some of the questions they raised.

This brings me back to the glass ceiling. What if, indeed, something happens to the “customized” glass installed in buildings? What if it breaks into pieces and fall on unwitting pedestrians below?

But Sec. Mon assured me that the DTI would take all these concerns into consideration in coming up with the amended AO.

That’s good to know. It is important for the DTI to really decide on this issue with safety in mind. In the first place, it issued the new AO because of complaints against substandard quality glass from abroad.

In the end, local producers and importers should make sure they comply with safety standards. These standards, after all, level the playing field and ensure the quality of products in the market.

Customers should be more discerning, too. Make sure you get quality glass products and not the kind that breaks easily.

Lite ferry 16

Speaking of safety standards, I was dismayed to hear of another passenger ferry accident.

Last Aug.  28, a fire engulfed the overcrowded ferry which was sailing from Cebu to Dapitan. The manifest listed only 172 passengers and crew but at least 245 passengers were rescued.

That’s not all. I also learned that the ferry was a converted LCT or landing craft tank, a type of vessel supposedly designed just for cargo and not for passengers.

The operator of the Lite Ferry converted the LCT into a passenger vessel, which isn’t really safe.

The Marina, the maritime industry regulator, should not have allowed this and the blatant overcrowding.

I will keep on writing about this because as I’ve written before, I once found myself in an overcrowded ferry to Marinduque. It was a God-forsaken trip I cannot forget. I experienced firsthand just how poorly regulated sea transportation is in our country.

It’s been 32 years since the MV Dona Paz tragedy happened and claimed more than 4,000 lives, but it seems we have not learned the painful lessons of that mishap, listed as the world’s worst sea tragedy in the post-war era.

Taxes on vape

The Senate ways and means committee will start today deliberations on the bill imposing excise taxes on vape products.

The vape guys are not happy. Instead, they called on legislators to look at the experience of other countries that have adopted harm reduction in their national tobacco control policy.

VapersPH said the proposed heavy sanctions on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products should be reviewed with proper public consultation.

The group claims that heavy taxes on reduced-risk products would only result in smokers sticking it out with conventional cigarettes instead of switching to less harmful nicotine products.

Smokers will simply continue to smoke, the group said.

Well, as I’ve said before, the best solution really is to just quit smoking. But this, of course, is easier said than done.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com