DTI warns retailers and distributors of substandard motorcycle helmets

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reiterates its warning to retailers and distributors selling substandard motorcycle helmets that the agency will strictly enforce the law.

Under Republic Act 10054 or Motorcycle Helmet Act, a new motorcycle helmet which bears the Philippine Standard (PS) mark or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) of the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) and complies with the standards set by the BPS shall be made available by every seller and/or dealer every time a new motorcycle unit is purchased and which the purchaser may buy at his option.  Failure of the seller and/or dealer to comply with the requirements provided shall be punished with a fine of not less than Ten thousand pesos (Php10,000.00) but not more than Twenty thousand pesos (Php20,000.00).

Any person who uses, sells and distributes substandard motorcycle helmets or those which do not bear the PS mark or the ICC certificate shall be punished with a fine of not less than Three thousand pesos (Php3,000.00) for the first offense; and Five thousand pesos (Php5,000.00) for the second offense, without prejudice to other penalties imposed in Republic Act No. 7394 or the “Consumer Act of the Philippines.”

Tampering, alteration, forgery and imitation of the PS mark and the ICC certificates in the helmets shall be punished with a fine of not less than Ten thousand pesos (Php10,000.00) but not more than Twenty thousand pesos (Php20,000.00), without prejudice to other penalties imposed in Republic Act No. 7394 or the "Consumer Act of the Philippines.”

DTI enjoins all retailers and distributors of motorcycle helmets to get their supply from manufacturers and importers that have been given the Philippine Standard (PS) license and/or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) Certificate.

To recall, Congress promulgated Republic Act 10054 otherwise known as Motorcycle Helmet Act in 2009 requiring all motorcycle riders, including drivers and back riders to wear standard protective motorcycle helmets or those that have a PS license or ICC mark at all times while driving, whether long or short drives, in any type of road and highway. 

Effective January 1, 2013, motorcycle drivers caught driving without a protective helmet bearing the ICC seal will be issued citation tickets and penalized as stated in the Helmet Act of 2009.



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DTI 7 documents products of OTOP Store in Cebu

To increase the OTOP items registered online via Shopinas and to enroll all OTOP SMEs in the OTOP website, the DTI 7 and OTOP Store staff photographed several products of the OTOP Store —Tindahang Pinoy Cebu outlet.

The One Town One Product (OTOP) Store is a depot of top-quality products in the Philippines.

A Public-Private Partnership project, the OTOP Store is a microcosm of the Philippines as a nation. Products from all over the country —-reinvented, reshaped, redesigned, drawn out, sculpted, or reconfigured using materials native to the area, are all in this shop to entice the seeker to buy.

For OTOP Store in Cebu, around 70 percent of these products are sourced from Central Visayas while 30 percent of it comes from different parts of the country.





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BOI & DTI HOLD INVESTMENTS ROADSHOW ON NOV. 22

The Board of Investments (BOI) in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry Central Visayas (DTI 7) will conduct an Investments Roadshow on November 22, 2012 from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm at the Crown Regency Hotel and Towers, Fuente Osmena Boulevard, Cebu City.

The activity serves as a venue for presentation of the recently approved 2012 INVESTMENT PRIORITIES PLAN (IPP) and a feedback session on how the government may further assist the existing and would be entrepreneurs in their business undertakings.

Speakers during the activity include DTI Undersecretary for International Trade Group Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr. and Governor of the Board of Investments Geronimo D. Sta. Ana.

Projects identified under the IPP are entitled to a package of incentives including income tax holiday, duty-free importation of capital equipment among others.

This year’s IPP comprises a total of 13 preferred economic activities including agriculture/agribusiness and fishery, creative industries/knowledge-based services, shipbuilding, mass housing, iron and steel, energy, infrastructure and PPP, research & development, green projects, hospital and medical services projects, motor vehicles, strategic projects, and disaster prevention and recovery projects.

Hospital and medical services and iron and steel are new additions to the 2012 IPP. Inclusion of the new sectors in the IPP could signal strong investor interest in these particular sectors.

For inquiries on the Investment Roadshow, please contact BOI Cebu Extension Office at tel. nos. 412-1945 or 412-1944.  Interested would-be investors may also contact the nearest DTI provincial offices: BOHOL PROVINCIAL OFFICE, 2F FCB Bldg., CPG Ave., Tagbilaran City, Tel. # (63) 038-501-8828; CEBU PROVINCIAL OFFICE, 3F LDM Bldg., M.J. Cuenco Avenue, Cor.Legaspi Street, Cebu City, Tel. # (63)(032) 412-1863 / 253-2631; NEGROS ORIENTAL PROVINCIAL OFFICE, 2F Uymatiao Bldg., San Jose Street. Dumaguete City, Tel. # (63)(035) 422-5509; SIQUIJOR PROVINCIAL OFFICE, Chan She Bldg., Legaspi Street, Poblacion, Siquijor, Siquijor, Tel. # (63)035-480-8241. 



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DTI 7 Passed the 2nd Surveillance Audit

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Central Visayas passed the 2nd surveillance audit conducted by the Certification International Philippines (CIP) Inc. on November 7-9, 2012 in relation to Quality Management System (QMS) ISO 9001:2008 certification.

As ISO-certified, DTI-Central Visayas has fully developed certain formal processes in its management quality control. This includes monitoring processes, complete and accurate records’ maintenance, checking and correction of defective outputs and effectiveness’ continual internal reviews.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international organization that gives certification to businesses, government organizations and social entities that meet certain common standards. 



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DTI warns public against blacklisted forwarders

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued a list of unaccredited freight forwarders and consolidators and advised the public, particularly the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their consignees not to transact with the said companies due to reported complaints of undelivered Balikbayan Boxes.

According to Atty. Victorio Mario Dimagiba, Director-in-Charge of Philippine Shippers Bureau (PSB), OFWs who will send their Balikbayan boxes and their consignees in the Philippines should book their packages only with reliable and PSB-accredited freight forwarders and Philippine agents to ensure that their packages will reach its destination.

Foreign principals and cargo consolidators abroad usually have Philippine counterparts which must be accredited by the PSB if it is a sea cargo forwarder and Civil Aeronautics Authority of the Phils. (CAAP) if it is an air cargo forwarder.

Senders may verify the company name of Philippine sea freight forwarder counterpart at www.dti.gov.ph, or they may visit our Philippine Consulate Offices abroad.

Director Dimagiba also told senders to be aware of very low door-to-door rates offered by foreign principals.  “With low rates, they (foreign principals) do not have enough funds to bear the cost of transporting cargoes, and they fail to remit delivery funds to their Philippines freight forwarders, causing the shipments to be abandoned at the ports and not being delivered to consignees, said Dimagiba.

To avoid being a victim of unscrupulous cargo forwarders, the public is advised to regularly monitor advisories and alerts from DTI-PSB, and refer to the blacklist of unaccredited freight forwarders available at offices of Overseas Worker Welfare Administration, Bureau of Customs, DTI Regional Offices in the Philippines, and for senders abroad, they may visit Philippine Embassies and Consulates, Philippine Trade and Investments Centers (PTICs), Consumer Agencies of Foreign Government and Freight Forwarders Regulating Agencies of Foreign Government.

The following are the local freight forwarders/Philippine agents with no DTI-PSB accreditation and are now subject of complaints on undelivered packages:

Aerosend (Case No. 2011-04-163)

Alas Cargo Phil. (Case No. 2012-05-57)

Associated Consolidation Express (ACE) (Case No. 2010-05-44)

Dausan International Forwarder (Case No. 2012-09-132)

FACF Parcel Delivery (Case No. 2012-09-142)

FRS Philippine Freight Services Inc. (Case No. 2011-08-238)

International Cargo Forwarder (Case No. 2012-08-125)

J.J.  Transglobal Brokerage (Case No. 2012-09-143)

JAR Cargo Forwarders (Case No. 2012-09-126)

Mail Plus Cargo Carriers (Case No. 2012-02-25)

Manila Broker (Case No. 2012-09-144)

Maru Cargo Logistics Phil. (Case No. 2012-10-164)

R&M Cargo Services (Case No. 2012-10-155)

Rodah Cargo Manila (Case Nos. 2012-01-15 and 2012-09-140)

South Atlantic Cargo Inc. (Case No. 2012-10-154)

Trico International Forwarding (Phils.) Inc. (Case No. 2012-09-141)

Vanwill Cargo Forwarder, Inc. (Case No. 2012-10-174)

VCG Customs Brokerage (Case No. 2012-03-38)

Aside from the local freight forwarders, PSB issued names of blacklisted foreign principals and consolidators abroad due to reports of undelivered packages and other violations under PSB Administrative Order No. 6 series of 2005 or the Revised Rules on Freight Forwarding:

United Arab Emirates	Al Rodah Marine Cargo Cityline Cargo Dagupan Cargo Packaging Services Express Link Cargo Services Smooth Express
United States	AAA Cargo Express Inc. ABSCBN Star Kargo Aerosend Alas Cargo Associated Consolidations Express - Ace Cargo FRS Phil. Freight Services Inc. Shipping Express South Atlantic Cargo
Saudi Arabia	Cargo Net Worldwide Services-formerly FAL World Express Cargo Fil Asia Cargo Forwarders Phil Global Cargo RJM Freight Cargo Forwarders WRJ Freight Forwarders North and South Express Cargo
Singapore	Hagibis Express Pte. Ltd Maru Cargo Logistics (s) LLP
Ireland	Maharlika Enterprise Cargo Services SCRL Cargo
Malaysia	Bayanihan Express
Australia	Dausan International Forwarder
Hongkong	Ford Cargo International
Cyprus	Trico International

Likewise, PSB advised the public to refrain from transacting with the following blacklisted accredited freight forwarding companies which were issued Show Cause Orders by DTI and are subject of complaints regarding balikbayan boxes:

D’Winner Logistics Phil. Inc (Case No. 2012-09-139- Petition for revocation of Accreditation)

LCSN Express Movers Inc (Case Nos. 2012-09-135, 2012-10-158, 2012-10-161)

Transtech Global Phil Inc. (Case No. 2012-09-138)

Wide Wide World Express Corp. (Case No. 2012-09-148)

These companies are in danger of revocation of their accreditation with PSB.

For consignees in the Philippines who have not received their packages from freight forwarders, they may contact DTI (02-751-3330) or go to PSB Office to file an immediate claim or complaint. 


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DTI7 2nd Semester 2012 Performance Magazine Kalampusan

 The Department of Trade and Industry Central Visayas released its 2nd semester 2012 electronic performance magazine Kalampusan (Cebuano for success). 

Click on the following link to access:
http://kalampusan.weebly.com/

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DTI & GIZ hold PSP SMEDSEP final event and PROGED soft launch

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) held a soft launch of the Promotion of Green Economic Development (ProGED) Philippines Project on 24 October at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City.

ProGED is a new development cooperation project between DTI and GIZ, which hopes to address the emergent need of greening the Philippine economy toward sustainable development and inclusive growth. Specifically, the development of micro, small and medium enterprises in the Tourism sector will be the focus of the new project that will commence early next year.  

On the same day of the ProGED launch was the final event of the PSP SMEDSEP in the Philippines that celebrated the success of the DTI and GIZ partnership in the implementation of the highly successful over nine years private sector promotion program.

The DTI and GIZ partnership worked for the success of development approaches such as the local and regional economic development (LRED), business permit and licensing system (BPLS), cash flow based lending, private sector provision of business development services (BDS) and promotion of market system development (MSD) and value chain (VC).

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DTI 7 IS ACCEPTING PROPOSALS FOR SHARED SERVICE FACILITIES UNTIL OCT. 26

The Department of Trade and Industry Central Visayas Office (DTI7) is currently accepting proposals from industry associations, academe and cooperatives for the establishment of Shared Service Facilities (SSF) and machineries for use by micro and small enterprises in their areas.

The SSF proposals will be screened by the DTI head Office after which the agency will conduct a public bidding for the supply of these machineries and equipment.

According to DTI 7 regional director AsteriaCaberte, the proposals are all for the establishment or purchase of equipment and machineries for business and agri-business ventures. 

Caberte explains that DTI Central Visayas prioritizes SSFs for businesses engaged in bamboo, coconut/ coco coir, seaweeds, gifts, decors, houseware, wearables and homestyle, metals and metalworks, processed foods.

Deadline for submission of SSF proposals to the DTI 7 regional office is on October 26, 2012.

In Region 7, there are already 13 SSFs approvedand ready for public bidding based on report submitted by DTI.  In Cebu, these include Coco Twine/ Coir Production, Decorticating Machine, Modernized and Eco-friendly Production Facility.  In Bohol, approved SSFs include the Shared Service Facility for the CalamayIndustry of Jagna and Alburquerque, Shared Service Facility for the Meat Processing Project of Catigbian, Shared Service Facility for the Ginger Processing Project of Loboc, Raffia Competitiveness and Productivity Enhancement Program, Shared Service Facility for the Bicao Farmers Multi Purpose Cooperative Food Processors, Shared Service Facility for Dauis Fine Jewelry.  For Negros Oriental, they have the Bamboo Processing Center for Negros Oriental. For Siquijor, these include a Food Processing and Labelling Center, Enhancement of the Community-based Larena Wood Craft Industry and  SSF for Bayong Production.

Caberte is hoping that by early next year these facilities may already be in place so micro and small enterprises among clustered industry players can already use these in the first quarter.

SSFs shall be hosted by a private group, industry associations, cooperative, Caberteunderscores.

She adds that SSFs are meant to improve the capability of micro enterprises in the processing of raw materials, improve their productivity and quality and to address gaps in supply and value chain.

For inquiries, interested parties are advised to call the DTI provincial Offices.  In Central Visayas, they may call the following numbers: BOHOL PROVINCIAL OFFICE at tel# (63) 038-501-8260,CEBU PROVINCIAL OFFICE at tel# (63)(032) 412-1863 / 253-2631, NEGROS ORIENTAL PROVINCIAL OFFICE at tel#(63)(035) 422-2764, SIQUIJOR PROVINCIAL OFFICE attel. # (63)035-480-9065. 



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