DTI firm on decision to enforce order lifting certification requirement

The DepartmentT of Trade and Industry (DTI) stood pat on its decision to implement a department order allowing certain products to be exempted from mandatory certification prior to release, despite the stiff opposition of the Federation of the Philippine Industries.

Trade Undersecretary Victorio Mario Dimagiba said on Wednesday that contrary to claims of FPI members, Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 15-01, S.2015 entitled “Measures to Facilitate the Issuance of the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC),” will not only hasten the release of certain goods, but will more importantly help curb smuggling.

The said DAO was meant to facilitate the issuance of the ICCs by reducing the processing time to three days.

Only products considered “life threatening” will be kept on the list of products requiring mandatory certification, while the rest of the products will be under “mandatory labeling.”

Products listed under mandatory certification will be subject to test procedures based on specified requirements, while those under mandatory labeling will be subject only to visual inspection of markings or labels.

Products that will no longer require mandatory certification were ceramic tiles; plywood; flat glass; common nails; GI sheets; performance and labeling standards of self-ballasted lamps, single-capped fluorescent lamps, double-capped fluorescent lamps, and magnetic and electronic ballast.

The FPI, however, raised concerns of increased entry of substandard products, particularly for ceramic tiles, flat glass, and plywood without the mandatory certification implemented previously by the DTI.

Dimagiba pointed out, however, that the current backlog for one product category alone was about three months and without this DAO, the importers will only suffer further.

He, however, clarified that while the mandatory certification prior to release of the containers would be lifted, the DTI would still do random “sampling,” and if a particular product fails to meet the standards, the agency will then order a recall to ensure the safety of consumers.

The trade official also noted that after a meeting among stakeholders on Tuesday, the DTI decided to consider the plea to reinstate mandatory certification for flat glass.

The FPI will have to submit its position paper to justify this move, Dimagiba added.

For ceramic tiles and plywood, the new DTI order will remain in effect.