Govt scraps NS certification of Hi-Tech, Ambe Premium cement brands

Kathmandu, December 5

The Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) today scrapped the Nepal Standard (NS) certification of two cement brands of Ambe Cement — Hi-Tech OPC

Cement and Ambe Premium OPC Cement — on charges of the brands not conforming to NS criteria.

Along with the cancellation of NS certification, the NBSM has also restricted the company from selling these cement brands in the domestic market.

Issuing a press statement, NBSM said that NS certification of the two aforementioned cement brands had been scrapped after the government laboratory tests found these cements contained slag — stony waste materials — though cement producers are required to use only gypsum and clinker in OPC cement.

“We had found the company using slag in its cement a few months ago and warned it to avoid doing so. As the company repeatedly bypassed NBSM’s direction and continued using slag in its cement, we decided to scrap NS certification of the concerned cement brands,” said Bishwo Babu Pudasaini, director

general of NBSM.

As per Pudasaini, these two cement brands will be allowed in the market once they comply with the legal standards set by the government.