The Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS) in the Philippines is responsible for ensuring the quality of imported goods. For this purpose, it has introduced the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC), or ICC certification for short. Affected are 16 product types of the total of 88 product groups within the PNS certification, so for these 16 product types you need both PNS and ICC to export to the Philippines.
The ICC certification is a Philippine importer certification, i.e. the application comes from the importer and not from the manufacturer.
It is best to submit an existing test report according to the Philippine standard together with the application documents. After successful testing, the ICC certificate with the corresponding sticker will then be issued directly. The ICC sticker can be placed on the packaging in certain cases, but must not be missing in any case.
The most important facts about ICC certification
- Packing list
- Import Entry (does not have to be submitted with the application, but is a prerequisite for the release of the ICC certificate)
- Commercial invoice
- Bill of lading/air waybill
- Summary of batch
- numbers/serial numbers of products
- DTI Business Name Registration (for sole traders)
- SEC Certificate of Incorporation (for companies)
- Special Power of Attorney (for sole traders)
- Board of directors/shareholders resolution or (for corporations) / notarised secretary’s certificate stating the name of the authorised company representative
- Surety bond
- BIR release certificate for importers
- Current proof of invoicing (office and warehouse)
- ISO 9001 certificate of the manufacturer
- Valid test report
- Other documents
- For re-rolled bar, deformed bar and isosceles angle bar:
- Submission of logo to BPS prior to import
- Factory certificate, quality inspection report or equivalent from manufacturer
- For motorbike helmets and their visors:
- Test report per make per type per model
- Certificate of conformity from the manufacturer that the imported batch has met the requirements of the standard prior to release from the manufacturer’s factory
Updated list of distributors/retailers. - All photocopied documents must be certified as true and correct by the authorised signatory of the applicant company.
- Application documents+test report: 1-3 weeks depending on the customer.
- Review application+test report: 1 month
- Certificate: 1-2 weeks
- Product marking: depending on customer
Application costs provided that the test reports submitted meet Philippine standards.
What is the ICC certification for?
Even after the standardisation of the KC certification in 2009, it still has a very high level of complexity due to the different areas and the different certification procedures (also within the areas). An overview of the main differences can be found in this extendable table:
- Safety belts (seat belts)
- Safety glass for automobiles
- Tubes for car tyres
- Tyres for automobiles
- Edison screw lamp sockets
- Snap-action switches
- Thermoplastic electrical wires and cables
- Low carbon steel wires
- Pipes (PB) for drinking water supply
- Pipes (PE) for drinking water supply
- Pipes (PVC) for drinking water supply
- Rigid electrical pipe (PVC)
- Pipes (PVC-U) for drainage and venting
- Sanitary objects
- Automotive brake fluid
- LPG cylinders for motor vehicles
How does the ICC certification process work?
If a test report according to the Philippine standard can be submitted, this will suffice together with the other required documents and the ICC certificate together with the corresponding sticker will be issued. In most cases this will be possible unless the manufacturer does not share this with the importer. In this case, this check must be made up.
Frequent mistakes
There are errors in the application documents
The formal requirements of the ICC are very high, the potential for errors is great.
You are the manufacturer but not the importer
The importer in the Philippines is responsible for the application for ICC certification.
The products do not comply with the standards
Philippine National Standards (PNS) are very often based on international standards, especially IEC standards. Nevertheless, there are specific differences every now and then.
The products are not marked/certified
ICC certification requires a sticker on tested products. You can obtain this sticker directly from the Bureau of Philippine Standards.