DTI starts to monitor prices of 'Noche Buena' products

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced they will start monitoring ‘Noche Buena’ products to ensure that consumers will not be victimized by unscrupulous businessmen.

At the same time, bakers said they will maintain the price of Pinoy Tasty until the holidays. The P36 tasty is available in leading supermarkets and drugstores and is manufactured by big bakers like Gardenia, French Baker and Julie’s.

In a press conference, Trade Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya said the Department starts monitoring Christmas goods after All Saints Day. “We have started tracking items like ham, cheese, pasta, fruit cocktail, mayonnaise and cream,” Maglaya told reporters.

DTI is also looking at Christmas lights. Defective Christmas lights are known to cause accidents like fires. Maglaya reported that her team has already caught several vendors in Divisoria selling sub standard Christmas lights.

Maglaya urged the public to buy Christmas lights only at reputable stores. DTI regulates the sale of Christmas lights in the local market to protect consumers from the hazards posed by this product. 

Under the DTI Product Certification Scheme, all importers of Christmas lights are required to have their import shipments subjected to sampling and testing based on the requirement of Philippine National Standards on Christmas lights (PNS 189:2000) at the BPS Testing Center and other DTI accredited or recognized Testing Centers before it can be sold.

Only those importers whose products comply with PNS requirements are issued with the Import Commodity Clearance, and are authorized to affix the ICC sticker in their products. The ICC mark comes in sticker form and is not directly printed on the package.