THE Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently added 14 household appliances for mandatory certification and testing before they are distributed and sold in the market, said Warren T. Serrano, the information officer of the DTI in Central Luzon.
On February 10, Serrano said, the DTI issued Department Administrative Order (DAO) 18-03, or the Mandatory Philippine National Standards (PNS) for Household and Similar Electrical Appliances. The order covers 14 products the DTI-BPS regulates prior to its distribution and sale in the market. These are spin extractors, fully automatic washing machines, electric grills, electric ovens, turbo broilers, induction cookers, electric juicers, electric food mixers, electric food processors, electric kettles, electric pressure cookers, electric slow cookers, electric multi-cookers and inverter air-conditioners.
“The DAO 18-03 on the mandatory certification of Philippine National Standards [PNS] declares the products under these standards to go through the process of testing and verification. This will ensure that only safe and quality household and similar electrical appliances are sold in the country,” DTI- Consumer Protection Group (DTI-CPG) Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo said.
Under the DAO 18-03, a manufacturer’s in-plant testing must be able to conduct test parameters as prescribed by the relevant PNS using its own inspection, measuring and test equipment. For independent testing, samples must be tested at 230 V a.c., 60Hz and should comply with the requirements of the relevant standards by a BPS recognized testing
laboratory.
To ensure that products have been inspected for quality and compliance with standards, the DTI Regional Office 3 reminds consumers to look for the Philippine Standards (PS) mark when buying locally manufactured household appliances, while imported mandatory products should bear the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) hologram mark with the corresponding serial number provided by the BPS.
Consumers are also advised to visit the BPS web site bps.dti.gov.ph to check which products are required for mandatory certification. The web site also contains the list of companies with PS and ICC mark licenses.