THB344 million worth of substandard products detected in past 10 months

Industrial products worth 344 million baht failed standards tests in the past 10 months (October 2023 to July 2024), the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) revealed.

The amount was a nearly 70 per cent jump over the same period year on year, increasing from 203 million baht worth of substandard products.

Iron and construction materials were the product group where most substandard products were found, valued at 126 million baht, or 37% of all substandard products, Wanchai Panomchai, TISI secretary-general, said on Friday.

Electrical and electronics appliances followed with substandard goods valued at 111 million baht (33%), followed by tyres (86 million baht, 25%), and commodity goods (17 million baht, 3%).

Currently 144 products in 19 industrial groups must undergo industrial standard testing.

In the past 10 months the institute has filed charges against 670 violators of industrial standard laws, while 70 cases have been sent to courts as they involved safety of consumers, said Wanchai.

He warned that producers or importers of products that do not meet industrial standards could face up to two years’ imprisonment or 2 million baht fine, or both, while sellers of such products could be imprisoned for up to six months or fined up to 500,000 baht, or both.

Amid the increasing in substandard products, the TISI has urged related government agencies to tighten screening and testing efforts in terms of personnel, equipment, and sample sizes for testing, which currently stand at only 10-20%.