Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regional director Asteria Caberte urges the public to be vigilant when buying portable fire extinguishers.
“This means that the consumer has to look for the Philippine Standard (PS) quality or safety certification license issued to manufacturers,” she said.
Caberte added that consumers should also ensure that the packaging or product has an authentic PS Mark affixed on it.
“To ensure the safety of Filipino consumers and prevent untoward incidents, DTI has put in place measures to monitor compliance by manufacturers and importers,” Caberte said. “These include such measures as the sharing of data of the department’s regulating agency Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) with the DTI field offices to verify licenses it has issued and, when appropriate, sanctions shall be slapped on the offender.”
Director Caberte underscored that the DTI, through the BPS, issues Product Standard Certification licenses to manufacturers but does not endorse any brand or establishment.
She reiterated that “the PS Mark on the product and the Philippine Standard (PS) quality or safety certification license issued to manufacturers shall ensure quality and safety of the product.”
As the National Standards Body of the Philippines, the BPS is tasked to develop/adopt, implement and promote Philippine National Standards (PNS) as mandated in the Republic Act (RA) 4109 Series of 1964.
Under the BPS Product Certification Scheme, fire extinguishers are among products under mandatory certification and must bear the Philippine Standard (PS) mark.
Any retailer or wholesaler found selling uncertified products will be seized of such products and will pay a penalty that can range up to a maximum of P300,000, without prejudice to the filing of criminal or civil actions under applicable laws.
To ensure that only inspected and approved products are found in the market, regular monitoring activities are performed by the DTI Provincial Offices.
For more info on standards and standardization activities, call the DTI-BPS at 751.4730 or visit the Standards and Conformance Portal – www.bps.dti.gov.ph.
