DTI to consumers: Buy Christmas lights with PS mark or ICC sticker

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Friday made public lists of certified brand names of Christmas lights almost a month before the holiday celebration, reminding the public to buy only those that have certification marks.

The lists are in two DTI microsites, cataloguing those with valid Philippine Standard (PS) certifications marks for locally-made Christmas lights and those with Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) stickers for those imported.

The DTI’s Bureau of Philippine standards director Neil Catajay said the first thing consumers must look for when buying Christmas lights would be these certification marks to stand as proof that the products have undergone their certification process.

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 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 at https://tinyurl.com/PSChristmasLights2022.

Those with ICC certificates and stickers, and the other hand, are listed at https://tinyurl.com/ICCChristmasLights2022.

Last week, the DTI said that it was also looking to create a certification and standards system for ‘parols,’ with a new scheme aimed at regulating these seasonal decorative lights starting this year.

Catajay, however, said  these electricity-powered decorative lights have yet to be covered by 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 safety standards have not yet been set and required on the sale of ‘parols’ since the government 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 sales but to help parol-makers in Bulacan and Pampanga since they are exporting to overseas markets, such as the U.S.

The trade official said they were also planning  to have a national standards system, based on the UL’s framework, that would be applicable for ‘parols’ that would be sold locally.