TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte — The Department of Trade and Industry in the region has been on heightened campaign against business establishments selling defective Christmas lights in order to prevent accidents and risks to lives and properties.
DTI-8 regional director Cynthia Nierras has been urging the buying public to check Christmas lights to ensure that said items carry the Product Standards (PS) or International Compliance Certificate (ICC) markings on their label.
Director Nierras said their department is intensifying their campaign against Christmas items zeroing in on defective Christmas lights and decors.
Director Nierras is encouraging the consumers to be more vigilant as the Department intensifies the monitoring of Christmas lights and decorations.
“We have started monitoring the stores as early as October but our monitoring will be more intensified by November onwards as this is the time when Christmas decorations are in high demand,” Director Nierras said.
Nierras said DTI inspectors do not solely focus on the International Commodity Clearance (ICC) stickers but also on other aspects of the goods that will ensure their quality.
Christmas lights that are imported should bear an ICC sticker, likewise, locally made must bear PH sticker,” Nierras also stressed.
She also revealed the genuine feature of ICC stickers.
“Once they notice the ICC mark on products, they must see if it bears numbers and those numbers should correspond with the registration certificate issued by the DTI. If the ICC mark does not bear numbers then it is not genuine,” she said.
It was learned that customers choose to buy lights even if it lacks the necessary compliance labels because of the low price.
“We need more partners from the private sector with heightened awareness and consciousness of consumer rights so they will be able to tell the business about possible violations,” Nierras added.
DTI is determined to make the buying public understand the necessity of choosing Christmas lights labeled with the proper markings rather than buy defective lights sold at low price but will be putting lives at risk. (PIA 8)
