As the Christmas season nears, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) reiterated their reminders to consumers to be careful in buying Christmas lights and electrically powered decorations for the upcoming holiday season.
The DTI underscored that under the Consumer Act of the Philippines or Republic Act 7394, the sale and distribution of mandatory products like electronic products and Christmas lights in the Philippine market are regulated.
The agency warned that uncertified mandatory products should not be distributed nor sold in the market.
Sellers of uncertified products can be penalized with product confiscation and fines, according to the DTI.
Here are several tips provided by the BITAG Multimedia Network (BMN) when buying Christmas lights:
- Check the plug pins of the lights. (Easily bent plug pins are a sign of substandard Christmas lighting.)
- Look if the electrical wirings are not too thin. (Make sure that the wirings are suitable for the long-running function.)
- Markings should also bear the manufacturer or distributor’s name, address, and trademark. (The rated wattage of the lights, the country of origin, the barcode and batch number, and safety instructions and reminders such as “for indoor use only.”)
- Look for the Philippine Standards Certification Mark for locally produced products and the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) hologram and serialized stickers in the Christmas lights products.
