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The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Friday made public a list of certified brands of Christmas lights almost a month before the holiday celebration, reminding the public to buy only with safety certification marks.
The trade department listed it in two microsites, cataloguing those with valid Philippine Standard (PS) certifications marks and those with Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) stickers.
Neil Catajay, director of the DTI’s Bureau of Philippine Standards, said that the first thing consumers must look for when buying Christmas lights were these certification marks attesting that the product has undergone and meet safety standards.
ICC stickers for imports
PS marks are granted to manufacturers after successfully complying with the DTI’s factory audit and product testing while ICC stickers are issued to importers on a per shipment per bill of lading or airway bill basis after product inspection and testing.
The list of their certified brands of Christmas lights with valid PS certification mark license can be seen here.
Those with ICC certificates and stickers, on the other hand, are listed here.
Last week, the DTI said that it was also looking to create a certification and standards system for popular Christmas lanterns, called parol in Filipino, with a new scheme aimed at regulating these seasonal decorative lights, which was approved this year.
National standard for parols
Catajay said that these electricity-powered decorative lights have yet to be included under a proper standards and certification system.
“‘Parols’ are not included in our certification scheme. But the good news is that we have already coordinated with our partner standards development organization,” Catajay said, referring to the US-based Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global not-for-profit safety science company.
The trade official said that safety standards have not yet been required on the sale of parols since the government previously did not have a frame of reference to build on.
“They [UL] have available standards for seasonal decorative lights and that is applicable to our parols. Within the year, we want to have it promulgated as a national standard so we can use that to certify the products made by parol makers,” he added.
Catajay said the government’s intention was not to restrict its sales but to help parol-makers in Bulacan and Pampanga since they are exporting to overseas markets, such as the United States.
The trade official said they also plan to have a national standards system, based on the UL’s framework, that is applicable for parols, which are sold locally.
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DTI to consumers: Buy Christmas lights with PS mark or ICC sticker