DTI mandates ‘certification’ of air conditioners, TVs, lamps

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has issued a rule on the mandatory product certification of energy consuming products such as room air conditioners, television sets and fluorescent lamps, with a warning to distributors and retailers of penalties if such order is not observed.

The DTI cited the Bureau of Philippine Standards’ (BPS) Department Administrative Order (DAO) 22-01, series of 2022, which took effect last March 5.

But to provide local manufacturers and importers enough time to comply with the new order, the DTI said monitoring and enforcement would only start on Sept. 5, 2023.

Safety requirements

Energy consuming products (ECPs) utilize any form of energy (i.e., electricity, petroleum products, renewable energy, etc.) for a specific use. The DAO aims to strictly ensure that ECPs, regardless if they are imported or locally manufactured, would meet safety and performance requirements.

For the first penalty, retailers or distributors would be ordered to remove the product from the selling area. They would be served another notice of violation subject to an adjudication process for the second penalty.

“The DTI issued this Department Administrative Order to ensure that all energy consuming products being utilized by Filipino consumers are safe, of quality, and compliant to the latest safety and performance requirements prescribed by both the BPS and the Department of Energy,” said DTI Consumer Protection Group Undersecretary Ruth Castelo.

The DAO covers room air conditioners, refrigerators, television sets, self-ballasted compact fluorescent lamps, double-capped fluorescent lamps, single-capped fluorescent lamps, preheat/magnetic ballasts, electronic ballasts and self-ballasted LED lamps.

For locally manufactured products, manufacturers shall apply for a Philippine Standard Certification Mark License, while importers shall apply for an Import Commodity Clearance. INQ