PS Mark and Import Commodity Clearance

Also known as: PS Mark · PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark · ICC · Import Commodity Clearance sticker

Definition

The PS (Philippine Standard) Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark and the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) are the two marks of conformity administered by the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS or DTI-BPS) under its Mandatory Product Certification Schemes. Products covered by the schemes — whether locally manufactured or imported — must bear the PS mark or the ICC sticker before they may be distributed and sold in the Philippine market; the marks serve as the consumer’s guide and assurance that what is purchased is certified for quality and safety in conformity with the relevant Philippine National Standard (PNS). (BPS — PS and ICC Marks, BPS — Product Certification)

The two schemes divide the work by origin. The PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark Licensing Scheme grants a license to a manufacturer — local or foreign — whose factory complies with PNS ISO 9001 (the national adoption of the ISO 9001 quality-management-system standard) and whose product conforms to the relevant PNS. The ICC Certification Scheme issues a certificate to an importer whose imported products are shown to conform to the relevant PNS through inspection and product testing conducted by the BPS Testing Laboratory or a BPS-recognized testing laboratory. The statutory foundation is Republic Act No. 4109 (the Standards Law of 20 June 1964), which created the standards bureau and provided “for the standardization and/or inspection of products and imports of the Philippines,” reinforced by the consumer-protection mandate of the Consumer Act (Republic Act No. 7394). (BPS — Product Certification, LawPhil — Republic Act No. 4109)

Identities

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Wiktionary	N/A
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)	N/A
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Google Scholar	Philippine Standard PS mark Import Commodity Clearance ICC product certification DTI-BPS mandatory standards
ConceptNet	N/A
OpenCyc	N/A

Also Known As

PS Mark
PS Quality and/or Safety Certification Mark
ICC
Import Commodity Clearance sticker

Examples and Analogies

License plate for safety: Like a license plate on a vehicle, the PS mark is a visible, verifiable badge issued only after factory audits and product testing prove the item meets the standard — while the ICC sticker performs the same gatekeeping role for each imported shipment. (BPS — PS and ICC Marks, BPS — Product Certification)
Two doors into one market: A local air-conditioner factory enters through the PS door by holding an ISO 9001-conforming plant audited by the BPS; an importer of the same product enters through the ICC door by having each shipment inspected and tested — different evidence, same required destination: the mark on the product. (BPS — Product Certification)
A list with 87 items: The mandatory coverage — 87 products and systems under the list issued through the Joint Administrative Order 22-01 series of 2022 — includes household appliances (air conditioners, electric fans, television sets), lighting and wiring goods (self-ballasted LED lamps, circuit breakers, PVC electrical tapes, extension cord sets, wires and cables), construction materials (deformed steel bars, equal-leg steel angle bars, cement, plywood, ceramic plumbing fixtures), and safety-critical automotive products (pneumatic tires, safety glass, seat belts, child restraint systems). (DTI-BPS — press release, 2022)
The app that checks the sticker: Because fake ICC stickers circulate, the BPS deployed an ICC Verification Mobile Application that lets a buyer scan a sticker and confirm its authenticity before purchasing — verification infrastructure to match the counterfeit threat. (DTI-BPS — press release, 2022)

Usage Scenarios

1. Manufacturer Licensing (PS Scheme)

A manufacturer of a covered product applies to the BPS for a PS license, demonstrating factory conformity with PNS ISO 9001 and product conformity with the applicable PNS; once licensed, the PS mark is affixed to the product or, where placement rules require, to the packaging. (BPS — Product Certification, BPS — PS and ICC Marks)

2. Import Clearance (ICC Scheme)

An importer of covered goods applies for an Import Commodity Clearance per shipment, with conformance verified through inspection and testing by the BPS Testing Laboratory or a BPS-recognized laboratory; the ICC sticker is then affixed before the goods are released to the market. (BPS — Product Certification)

3. Market Surveillance and Consumer Verification

DTI monitoring and enforcement teams check retail outlets for covered products without PS or ICC marks, with access to stock rooms, and consumers can verify an ICC sticker through the BPS mobile application or a PS mark through the BPS Standards Conformity Division. (BPS — PS and ICC Marks, DTI-BPS — press release, 2022)

4. E-Commerce Compliance

Online platforms and sellers are expected to offer only PS- or ICC-certified consumer products; the DTI publicly reminded platforms of this duty in 2022 as marketplace selling expanded, consistent with the coverage of both physical stores and online listings. (DTI-BPS — press release, 2022, Inquirer — Online sellers warned)

Strategies

Certify the factory, not just the sample: The PS scheme conditions the license on a quality-management system (PNS ISO 9001) so that conformity is engineered into production rather than tested in after the fact. (BPS — Product Certification)
Test every import batch: The ICC scheme’s per-shipment inspection-and-testing design reflects the fact that an importer’s foreign supplier is outside the BPS’s direct audit reach. (BPS — Product Certification)
Make the mark machine-checkable: QR-coded ICC stickers verifiable through a mobile app, and PS verification through the Standards Conformity Division, turn every consumer into a potential enforcement sensor. (BPS — PS and ICC Marks, DTI-BPS — press release, 2022)
Keep the boundary explicit: PNS remain voluntary reference standards until a technical regulation places a product under mandatory certification, concentrating enforcement on safety-critical goods. (DTI-BPS — press release, 2022)

Security and Safety Measures

Mandatory pre-market certification: Products under the schemes cannot lawfully be distributed without the PS mark or ICC sticker, blocking uncertified electrical, construction, and automotive goods from open sale. (BPS — Product Certification, BPS — PS and ICC Marks)
Placement rules that keep marks visible: The mark is placed on the product itself; for goods where that is impracticable — ballasts, lamps, circuit breakers, electrical tapes, wires and cables, and flat cord, and for television sets, air conditioners, refrigerators, and microwave ovens — it goes on the packaging, and sellers must be able to present the box with the mark to DTI verifiers. (BPS — PS and ICC Marks)
Enforcement access to stock rooms: DTI monitoring teams are granted access to stock rooms during inspections; failure to present a product box with the required mark counts as a violation. (BPS — PS and ICC Marks)
Public anti-counterfeit warnings: The DTI warns the public that fake PS marks and ICC stickers are sold online and in physical stores, and states that only the DTI-BPS has authority to issue PS licenses and ICC stickers — the basis for buyer vigilance and reporting. (DTI-BPS — press release, 2022)

Historical Context

The certification apparatus descends from Republic Act No. 4109, signed on 20 June 1964, which converted the Division of Standards of the old Bureau of Commerce into a Bureau of Standards and empowered it over the “standardization and/or inspection of products and imports of the Philippines” — the statutory seed of both a Philippine National Standards catalogue and a product-certification regime. The Consumer Act of 1992 (Republic Act No. 7394) layered on the consumer-protection mandate under which the BPS now frames its schemes: protecting the public against hazards to life and property and assuring the consistency of standardized products in the market. (LawPhil — Republic Act No. 4109, BPS — Product Certification)

Over time the mandatory list grew to its present scope of 87 products and systems under the Joint Administrative Order 22-01 series of 2022, and the scheme has adapted to e-commerce — press releases from 2022 show the DTI warning that fake PS marks and ICC stickers circulate in online marketplaces and reminding platforms to sell only certified goods, while the ICC Verification Mobile Application and sticker versions issued across 2018–2020 document the state’s running effort to keep the marks ahead of counterfeiters. The BPS’s role as national standards body and ISO member body, which contextualizes these schemes, is covered in this wiki’s entries on the Bureau of Philippine Standards and the Philippine National Standards. (DTI-BPS — press release, 2022, BPS — PS and ICC Marks)

Challenges and Controversies

Counterfeit PS Marks and ICC Stickers

The certification system’s visibility has bred imitation: the DTI itself warns that fake PS marks and ICC stickers are sold online and in physical stores, defeating the consumer-verification purpose of the schemes and exposing buyers to untested electrical, construction, and automotive products; the department stresses that only the DTI-BPS may issue them, and has pressed platforms and sellers to deal only in certified goods. (DTI-BPS — press release, 2022, Inquirer — Online sellers warned)

Enforcement in Online Marketplaces

The 2022 reminder to online platforms and sellers — reported in Philippine media as a warning against selling substandard products — documents the enforcement gap between a certification regime built for physical retail and the scale of online listings, where products lacking PS or ICC marks continue to surface. (DTI-BPS — press release, 2022, Inquirer — Online sellers warned)

The Voluntary–Mandatory Boundary

Because PNS are voluntary unless a technical regulation makes them mandatory, only the 87 listed products and systems carry the certification requirement; for everything else, a claim of standards conformity rests on the manufacturer’s word, a limitation trade guides note when explaining the Philippine regime to exporters. (DTI-BPS — press release, 2022)