DTI warns consumers anew to buy only certified brands

To help consumers ensure that what they purchase are certified quality and safe products, the Department of Trade and Industry, through the Bureau of Philippine Standards (DTI-BPS), has released the updated lists of Philippine Standard (PS) Licensees and Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) Certificate holders as of 31 March 2022.

The said lists covering the certified products and brands may be accessed through the BPS Standards and Conformance Portal at www.bps.dti.gov.ph (direct links: https://bit.ly/PSlicensees and https://bit.ly/ ICCholders).

To date, there are more than 1,680 active PS Licensees across the Philippines and abroad. PS License is granted to either local or foreign manufacturer whose factory and product have successfully complied with the requirements of Philippine National Standard (PNS) ISO 9001 and the relevant product standard/s, respectively.

The uploaded list of PS Licensees contains information such as the PS License Nos., the covered products, brand names, types/models, and reference product standards. This information will aid consumers in checking the veracity of PS mark affixed on the products.

ICC Certificate, on the other hand, is issued to an importer whose imported products have shown conformance to relevant product standards through inspection, verification, and product testing by the BPS Testing Laboratory or BPS-recognized testing laboratories. The list of ICC Certificate holders includes the particular ICC Certificate numbers as well as the issued ICC sticker serial numbers for the certified imported products. This list together with the ICC Mobile Verification System App may be used by the public to check if the ICC stickers affixed on regulated products are authentic.

Currently, there are 87 products under the BPS Mandatory Certification Schemes which includes household appliances such as air conditioners, electric fans, rice cookers, microwave ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, and television sets; lighting and wiring devices such as self-ballasted LED lamps, circuit breakers, PVC electrical tapes, and extension cord sets; steel products such as BI/GI steel pipes, deformed steel bars, and equal-leg steel angle bars; plastic pipes and ceramic products such as pipes for potable water supply and ceramic plumbing fixtures; cement and plywood; chemical products; and automotive related products such as pneumatic tires, automotive safety glass, seat belts, and child restraint systems (CRS). The complete list of products may be accessed through the BPS Standards and Conformance Portal, www.bps.dti.gov.ph (direct link: https://bit.ly/BPSmandatoryList).

The DTI-BPS is the National Standards Body authorized to promulgate Philippine National Standards (PNS). Compliance to PNS is voluntary in nature and it may be used as reference by any interested parties, unless a Technical Regulation or Department Administrative Order is issued for a specific product where conformance to PNS or parts thereof becomes mandatory. (dti.gov.ph)