DTI now requires certification of steel sheets 

Galvanized steel sheets for roofing and general applications are now placed under mandatory product certification by the Department of Trade and Industry to ensure product standards and safety, protect domestic manufacturers and prevent entry of substandard imports, according to a report by Manila Bulletin.

Through the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS), the DTI issued the Department Administrative Order (DAO) 20-10, series of 2020 or “The New Technical Regulation Concerning the Mandatory Product Certification of Hot-Dip Metallic-Coated and Pre-Painted Galvanized Steel Coils and Sheets for Roofing and General Applications”.

DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said that DAO 20-10 included galvanized steel coils and sheets for roofing and general applications to the list of construction materials regulated by the DTI-BPS to support the Duterte Administration’s “Build, Build, Build” Program which aims to further expand Philippine infrastructure.  

In regulating this construction material, Lopez said the DTI-BPS is focusing on ensuring quality and safety of construction materials such as cement, steel bars, steel pipes, plywood, ceramic tiles, and hot-dip metallic-coated and pre-painted galvanized steel coils and sheets for roofing and general applications through the products’ corresponding technical regulations.  

The DAO includes provision for steel coils and sheets intended for general application, such as those utilized as raw materials for the manufacture of automotive, appliances, furniture, electrical and electronics, and steel pipes. The same are only required to undergo inspection and verification but exempted from product sampling and testing. 

This provision is to ensure that imported steel coils and sheets are indeed used as raw materials for general application and are not used for the production or manufacturing of roofing materials which will later reach the local market. The regulation is not an anti-poor policy nor disadvantageous to general public and non-roofing sheet users and importers but strengthens consumer protection and levels playing field for manufacturers and importers.  

The said DAO took effect on 13 January 2021 or 15 days after its publication.

The DTI said that the DAO underwent series of public consultations consistent with Good Regulatory Practice. A notice of Public Consultation was published in August last year. Several public consultations were conducted last year. On 09 August 2019, the Draft DAO was posted in the DTI-BPS Website for stakeholders’ comment. On 20 August 2019 and 07 January 2020, the Draft DAO was posted in the WTO Notification Site to give the WTO members opportunity to provide comments within 60 days.  

The DTI-BPS is continuously engaging concerned stakeholders to clarify certain issues concerning the implementation of DAO 20-10 for real public interest. As a result of a meeting with the Philippine Association of Steelformers Inc. (PASI) on 07 January 2021, Memorandum Circular 21-01, series of 2021 was issued specifically providing Additional Transitory Provisions for the Implementation of DAO 20-10. Further, several meetings with the concerned steel industry and members of the BPS Technical Committee (TC) 64 were conducted on 12, 19, 25 January 2021 and 02 March 2021.

“The purpose of including the zinc coated galvanized sheets intended for general application is to prevent unscrupulous manufacturers or importers from circumventing the regulation which will be disadvantageous to the legitimate steel industry,” Lopez clarified. 

“The inclusion of hot-dip metallic-coated and pre-painted galvanized steel coils and sheets for roofing and general applications under mandatory certification is not only for consumer protection but also to protect legitimate manufacturers and importers,” Lopez said.  

Moreover, the DTI-BPS supports the government’s efforts in providing for the basic need for every Filipino, what better way to start is with good materials for roofing for the basic need for shelter. Assuring better quality materials for our houses provides confidence and protection against the dangers of frequent typhoons.   Since the implementation of DAO 20-10, the DTI-BPS has received and processed 114 applications with an average of six working hours turn-around-time. The DTI-BPS is continuously receiving and processing comments and suggestions concerning the implementation of DAO 20-10 and may issue supplemental guidelines, if necessary, consistent with Rule 24 of the subject DAO.