ILOILO CITY, Philippines – With the opening of classes next week, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reminded consumers to remain vigilant when purchasing school supplies to be assured of their quality and safety.
DTI-6 Public Information Officer Ruby Melliza said that it would be helpful for consumers to canvass first prior to making purchases to compare the quality of products.
“The consumers of school supplies should look at labels carefully. The packaging of the product should bear the brand or trademark, name and address of manufacturer/distributor/importer, country of manufacture or origin if imported, net quantity and toxicity warning,” she emphasized.
“In case of notebooks or pad papers, one should take note of the number of leaves or pages, kind of material (book or bond), size and grammage of the paper,” she also said.
She said that consumers should also be cautious when buying school supplies such as crayons, pencils and plastic products which may carry toxic substances.
For crayons, aside from brand name and trademark, the number of crayons inside its box, the word “non-toxic” which signifies it has passed the allowed toxicity level of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should be indicated.
For pencils, the graphite must not break easily when used under normal writing pressure or sharpened and should indicate the hardness symbol – No. 1, 2, 3; while ball point pens must have smooth writing performance.
The DTI official said that the regional and provincial offices continuously conduct market monitoring on school supplies not only to check on the prices but also to ensure compliance by manufacturers and importers with specific quality standards and labeling requirements.
Republic Act 7394 otherwise known as the Consumer Act of the Philippines states that manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers are liable for injuries caused to consumers by defective and unsafe products as well as giving inadequate information on its use and hazards it pose.
