Rules on PS Quality/Safety Certification Mark

Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) functions

The Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) formulates Philippine National Standards or adopts relevant international/foreign standards/guides as Philippine National Standards for licensing and conformity assessment.
The BPS promotes Philippine National Standards through publications, seminars, and trainings.
The BPS promulgates, consistent with the Order, the programs, guidelines, and procedures for implementing the PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark Scheme, and the BPS Director issues and amends such guidelines and procedures.
The BPS conducts conformity audits and surveillance audits of applicants/companies and licensees (local or foreign).
The BPS designates officially recognized National Standards Bodies, inspection bodies, certification bodies, and/or qualified individuals.
The BPS undertakes Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and/or Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with counterpart bodies to facilitate audits of foreign companies.
The BPS maintains the authority to grant licenses to use the PS Certification Mark, and to suspend, withdraw, or cancel licenses for cause.
The BPS collects fees for audit, testing, and certification services, and charges that cover traveling, board and lodging of auditors, freight charges for product samples, and purchase of market samples.
The BPS specifies rules governing the design and use of the PS Certification Mark.
The BPS requires preparation and submission of documents to determine licensee compliance regarding production, sale, and disposition of goods covered by the license.
The BPS recognizes testing/inspection/certification bodies using international guides (including ISO/IEC guides).
The BPS maintains and publishes registries of: (a) licensed companies, (b) recognized/accredited bodies, and (c) qualified auditors for public information, and keeps information confidential except upon court order of competent jurisdiction.
The BPS forms an Advisory Committee to recommend policies ensuring impartiality, advise the Product Certification Division, give impartial advice before changes in certification requirements are taken, and form an Appeal Committee when necessary.
The BPS may enter into contracts to facilitate sampling, testing, and/or inspection.
The BPS conducts conformity and surveillance audits and market monitoring through coordination with DTI Regional/Provincial Offices.
The BPS negotiates recognition of the PS Certification Mark with foreign/international certification or accreditation bodies, and recognizes MRAs/MOUs involving ASEAN MRA, JPEPA MRA, and harmonization of technical regulatory regimes and conformity assessment activities.

PS Certification Mark requirements

The PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark’s design must follow the illustration in Annex 1.
The PS Certification Mark must be affixed on the product covered by the license.
If marking or stamping on the product is not possible, the PS Certification Mark must appear on the package of the product.
The PS Certification Mark affixed on a product or its package may be enlarged or reduced to an appropriate size, provided the dimensions conform to Annex 1.

Definitions and core concepts

Accreditation is the procedure by which an authoritative body gives formal recognition that a body or person is competent to carry out specific tasks.
An Accredited Laboratory is a testing laboratory formally recognized under established procedures for competence to carry out specific tasks.
Audit is a systematic and independent examination to determine whether quality activities and related results conform to planned arrangements and are suitable for a company to achieve its quality objectives.
An Auditor is a qualified and authorized person to perform all or any portion of a factory and product audit for product certification and who is registered with BPS or with an international registration body.
An Applicant is a company seeking a license to use the PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark.
BPS means the Bureau of Product Standards.
A Certification Body is an organization that conducts certification of conformity.
Certification of Conformity is an independent system establishing after satisfactory factory and product audits that adequate confidence is provided by a manufacturer that its identified product meets standard requirements.
Conformity is fulfillment of requirements of a standard.
The Advisory Committee is composed of persons from sectors with significant interests in product quality and/or safety standards.
The Appeal Committee may be formed by the Advisory Committee when an appeal of the decision of the Bureau Director or its duly designated representative is filed.
A Certificate is a document awarded by BPS to a licensee evidencing authority to use the PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark.
The Bureau Director is the Director of the BPS.
DTI means the Department of Trade and Industry.
Inspection is evaluation of conformity by measuring, observing, or testing relevant product characteristics.
An Inspection Body is an organization performing inspection services on its own or on behalf of BPS for conformity audit purposes.
An International/Foreign Standard is a standard developed under WTO principles by international bodies (such as ISO, IEC, and ITU) or by foreign standards bodies under these principles.
A License is authority given by BPS to a company allowing use of the PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark on its products.
A Licensee is a company granted a license to use the PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark.
Non-Conformity is the non-fulfillment of requirements of a standard.
Philippine National Standard is the standard promulgated by BPS relating to product specifications, test methods, terminologies and standardization procedures, guide lines, or practices.
The Philippine Standard (PS) Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark Scheme uses the PS Quality and/or Safety Mark as proof of certification of conformity to quality and safety standards.
The PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark is a mark of conformity appearing on a product.
Product Recall is an established system of retrieving unsafe, sub-standard, uncertified, or non-conforming products from the market by an entity.
Registration is the procedure by which BPS recognizes and indicates qualifications of a company or person for a specific task in publicly available list after evaluating qualifications under established guidelines.
Standard is a Philippine National Standard, international standard, or foreign standard used to evaluate an applicant’s quality control system and product for the PS Certification Mark Scheme.
Surveillance Audit is periodic evaluation of a licensee’s quality control system to determine conformity of its products to a specific standard and the license terms and conditions.
A Testing Laboratory measures, examines, or determines characteristics or performance of materials or products, and may also calibrate inspection, measuring, and test equipment.
A Test Method is a defined technical procedure to determine one or more specified characteristics of materials or products.

Licensing application, evaluation, and appeals

Applications for the PS Certification Mark license must be filed in triplicate on BPS Form PS/SF01, obtainable from BPS, DTI Regional/Provincial Offices, or BPS officially recognized counterpart National Standards Bodies, inspection and/or certification bodies.
The application must include an undertaking by the applicant to abide by the license terms and conditions.
The application must be subscribed and sworn to by the applicant or its duly authorized management representatives and filed with BPS.
Licensing authority is standard-specific, site-specific, and brand-specific.
Separate applications must be filed for products covered by different standards.
Separate applications must also be filed for the same products manufactured at different plant sites.
The application must be supported by information about the company and its capability to consistently manufacture products conforming to the requirements of a specific standard in the form of a Quality Manual.
The applicant must make available to the Bureau Director (or duly designated representative) the information and product samples required for evaluating the application and for periodic audit of the quality management system and products.
Audit work must be undertaken by BPS or DTI Regional/Provincial auditors or by recognized National Standards Bodies, inspection bodies, certification bodies, and/or qualified individuals.
If BPS finds that the applicant consistently conforms to the specific standard and meets other license requirements, the Bureau Director (or duly designated representative) shall approve the application and signs/issue the corresponding license.
If an application is denied, the applicant must file a motion for reconsideration with the official who rendered the decision within ten (10) working days from the date of denial.
If the concerned official sustains the denial, the applicant must file an appeal to the Appeals Committee within fifteen (15) days from receipt of the letter of denial.
An appeal to the Appeals Committee must be filed only when there is reason to believe the decision involved grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or in excess jurisdiction.
Filing a motion for reconsideration suspends the period for appeal.
The decision of the Appeals Committee may be appealed to the Secretary of Trade and Industry within fifteen (15) days from receipt of the Appeals Committee decision.

License term and binding conditions

A PS Certification Mark license takes effect on the date of issue and remains in full force and effect for three (3) years, subject to a minimum annual surveillance audit.
The license can be suspended, withdrawn, or canceled for cause at any time.
License terms and conditions are binding on all licensees, and any infraction constitutes sufficient grounds for suspension, withdrawal, or cancellation proceedings.
Licensees must abide by Republic Act 4109, Executive Order No. 133 (1987), Executive Order No. 913 (1983), and Republic Act 7394, including their implementing rules and regulations, and orders issued by BPS under statutory authority.
Licensees must ensure the certified product conforms at all times to a specific standard and are liable for damage caused by the product to consumers.
Licensees must maintain a quality management system satisfactory to BPS, aligned with ISO 9001:2000 and its future amendments.
Licensees must affix the PS Certification Mark only on certified products.
Licensees must establish and maintain a system for product recall and for addressing client/customer complaints about certified products, and must maintain records.
Licensees must grant BPS or DTI Regional/Provincial representatives access during working hours to premises where certified products are manufactured, for evaluating materials, production processes, finished articles, quality assurance facilities, and records in accordance with BPS “Guidelines of Auditing the Quality Control Systems of Manufacturing Firms Relative to the issuance of the License to Use the PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark.”
Licensees must undergo at least once a year audit to ensure consistent compliance with BPS requirements.
For subcontracting, licensees must assume full responsibility for compliance of sub-assemblies, semi-finished and finished products with the specific requirements.
Licensees must inform BPS in writing of changes of management, business name, brand name, and/or transfer of plant site, and must notify within one (1) month after transfer is accomplished.
For change or addition of brand name, BPS must be notified for the necessary product audit.
Upon transfer of plant site, the license is valid only after factory and product audit at the new site by BPS, DTI Regional/Provincial Offices, or recognized counterpart bodies for foreign companies.
Licensees must pay applicable fees and other charges as billed or stipulated by BPS, DTI offices, recognized counterpart bodies, or individual auditors.
The license to use the PS Quality and/or Safety Mark is non-transferable.

Quality management system requirements

Local and foreign companies must align their quality system requirements with ISO 9001:2000 and its future amendments to upgrade the PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark Scheme.

Prohibited acts and misuse

The PS Certification Mark must not be used on a product not covered by the license and must not be used in any misleading manner.
Licensees must not use the PS Certification Mark if their license has been suspended, withdrawn, or canceled for cause.
A maximum administrative fine under E.O. 913 applies to any person found guilty of forging the Bureau Director’s signature to secure and/or use the PS Certification Mark license; if the offender is a juridical entity, the president or general manager is liable, without prejudice to separate civil and/or criminal cases.
An administrative fine under Section 6 of E.O. 913, and other penalties provided by applicable DTI rules/regulations or orders, applies to any person or entity found guilty of using falsified documents or records to obtain a PS Certification Mark license, without prejudice to separate civil and/or criminal cases.
Any violation of the license terms and conditions constitutes a prohibited act subject to the Order’s administrative consequences.

Suspension, withdrawal, cancellation, and hearing

A license issued under the Order may be suspended, withdrawn, or canceled during its validity on grounds including:
- The product bearing the PS Certification Mark fails to conform to specific standard requirements through surveillance audit and market monitoring.
- Failure to comply with license terms and conditions.
- False statements in connection with application for or maintenance of the license.
- Violation of provisions of the Order.
- Violation of trade and industry laws enumerated under Ministry Order No. 69, series of 1983, as amended.
The Director may direct that suspension/withdrawal/cancellation be adjudicated under E.O. 913 (1983) and under applicable DTI rules/regulations or orders.
Suspension, withdrawal, or cancellation must be preceded by the Bureau Director serving a notice stating intention, grounds, and granting opportunity to be heard within fifteen (15) days from receipt of notice.

Penalties and fee administration

Violations of the Order are subject to the administrative actions provided by applicable DTI rules/orders and E.O. No. 913 (Series of 1983), without prejudice to criminal or civil actions under Republic Act No. 4109 and/or Republic Act 7394.
Fees and charges payable by local and foreign companies to BPS, DTI offices, recognized counterpart bodies, inspection/certification bodies, or individual auditors are as per Schedule 1.
Fees and charges are subject to changes as may be necessary.
In untoward incidents, the company is legally liable and responsible for the auditor during the entire duration of the audit.
BPS must not refund any fee paid if an application is not approved, withdrawn, or discontinued, or if the PS Certification Mark license is suspended or canceled.
If a case is filed against BPS by any consumer regarding a licensee’s product covered by the PS Certification Mark license, all expenses incurred by BPS in defending the case must be charged to the licensee.

Separability, repeal, and effectivity

Separability: If any provision of the Order or part thereof is declared invalid, the remaining separable provisions remain in force and effect.
Repeal: The Order repeals Department Administrative Order No. 1, series of 1997.
Transitory protection for existing licensees: Rights under existing laws/rules/regulations vested upon or acquired by manufacturers already granted a PS Certification Mark license as of the effectivity of this Order remain in force until the scheduled surveillance audit determined by BPS or until BPS declares them invalid under guidelines to be established; subsequent PS applicants are covered by the new Order.
Effectivity: The Order takes effect upon publication in a national newspaper of general circulation or the official gazette.