The Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Philippine Standards (DTI-BPS) has proposed a memorandum circular amending the implementing guidelines for the mandatory certification of steel products covered by Philippine National Standards (PNS) 49:2002, PNS 211:2002, and PNS 657:2008.

The draft memorandum circular (MC) specifies that the sampling size requirements are according to the Internal Organization for Standardization (ISO) International Standard (IS) 2859-1:1999 (Sampling Procedures for Inspection by Attributes – Part 1 Sampling Schemes Indexed by Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL) for lot-by-lot inspection).

Under the MC, the sampling size shall only be determined once the sampling lot size and general inspection level III code letter is identified.

The circular also specifies the required markings for mandatory certification of steel products. Each bundle, while the certification process is on-going, shall be properly tagged indicating the batch number, diameter, length, number of pieces and name of manufacturer/importer. Bundles found without tags during inspection and verification shall be rejected. Once certified, the PS mark with its license number, or the ICC mark with its number shall be included in the details indicated on the tag.

The Implementing Guidelines dated 22 July 2008 for PNS 49:2002 and PNS 211:2002 provides the sampling size of three (3) pieces by one (1) meter per type per size per thickness regardless of lot size; while the Implementing Guidelines for PNS 657:2008 dated 09 July 2008 provides the sampling size of three (3) pieces by one (1) meter per type per size per thickness regardless of lot size.

The DTI-BPS will accept comments on the draft circular until 09 June 2017.

For a copy of the draft Memorandum Circular on the Amendment to the Implementing Guidelines for the Mandatory Certification of Steel Products covered by PNS 49:2002, PNS 211:2002 and PNS 657: 2008, visit the BPS Standards and Conformance Portal. For more info on the said MC, call BPS at (02) 751.4720/ 507.7307/ 507.7435.