Request a Demo
On October 12, 2021, the Philippines' Department of Trade and Industry – Bureau of Philippine Standards (DTI-BPS) issued the Draft Department Administrative Order (DAO)[1] on the New Technical Regulation Concerning the Mandatory Product Certification of Mercury Added Products[2] (hereinafter referred to as Technical Regulation) for public consultation. The deadline for comments is December 7, 2021.
It aims to include mercury added products such as batteries, switches & relays, compact & linear fluorescent lamps, high pressure mercury vapour lamps, and cold cathode & external electrode fluorescent lamps for electronic display to the BPS' list of products under mandatory certification. The move is pursuant to the Philippines' commitment under the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. It is also in line with the requirements under the DENR Administrative Order No. 2019-20 or the "Revised Chemical Control Order (CCO) for Mercury and Mercury Compounds".
Below is the limits for mercury content in mercury added products:
Product | Allowable Mercury Content |
Button zinc silver oxide batteries | less than 2% of the unit mass |
Button zinc air batteries | |
Switches and relays with very high accuracy capacitance and loss measurement bridges | less than 20 mg per bridge |
High frequency radio frequency switches and relays in monitoring and control instruments | |
Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) for general lighting purposes that are ≤ 30 watts | lless than 5 mg per lamp |
Linear Fluorescent Lamps (LFLs) for general lighting purposes, Triband phosphor < 60 watts | less than 5 mg per lamp |
Linear Fluorescent Lamps (LFLs) for general lighting purposes, Halophosphate phosphor ≤ 40 watts | less than 10 mg per lamp |
Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL) and External Electrode Fluorescent Lamps (EEFL), short length (≤500 mm) | less than 3.5 mg per lamp |
Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL) and External Electrode Fluorescent Lamps (EEFL), medium length (> 500 mm and ≤1500 mm) | less than 5 mg per lamp |
Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL) and External Electrode Fluorescent Lamps (EEFL), long length (>1500 mm) | less than 13 mg per lamp |
All manufacturers of products covered by this Technical Regulation are required to apply for the Philippine Standard (PS) Certification Mark License, and importers are required to apply for the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC).
The prescribed products shall be labeled with:
Marking/labels by relevant PNS;
PS or ICC Mark;
Markings/labels prescribed by the Consumer Act of the Philippines; and
Mercury content in milligrams (mg).
In the absence of any of the required markings or submission of incomplete markings, the application for PS License or ICC shall not be processed until such time that the required markings are submitted or corrected.
This Order shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication. Upon effectivity, importation and manufacture of High-Pressure Mercury Vapour Lamps (HPMV) for general lighting purposes shall not be allowed. All new PS and ICC applications for products listed above shall comply with the procedures and requirements of this Order upon effectivity, while existing products are granted with a transitional period.
The authority will strengthen market monitoring and only products with the PS logo or ICC stickers shall be allowed for distribution in the local market 12 months after the effective date of this Order.
