DTI requires specific production details on cement products’ labels

Manufacturers and baggers of cement in the country have been ordered to stop printing packages worded "Product of the Philippines," as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) mandated specific production details on labels.

Under Memorandum Circular (MC) dated October 28, the DTI said all locally manufactured and imported cement products will instead bear the details of the country where the cement was manufactured.

Under the MC, cement shipped in bulk and bagged in the country will have the following markings:

• Portland cement products must identify the type of Portland cement, trade name or brand name, trademark of manufacturer, net mass in kilograms or metric tons, country of manufacture, name and address of manufacturer, the name and address of the bagging facility, PS mark of bagging facility, bagging date and batch identification, and red color band prescribed.
• Blended hydraulic cement products are required to have the same markings, excluding the type of cement but on top of the classification, specification and application of the product.
• Similar information is required for locally manufactured and imported cement products in tonner or jumbo bags, save for the net mass in metric tons, and the name and address of the imported in applicable cases.

"Inventory of all printed cement bags shall be conducted by the BPS (Bureau of Philippine Standards) at the bagging facilities for recording purposes and immediate corrective action to reflect the country of manufacture," the MC read.

The new guidelines will take effect immediately, upon publication in a national paper of general circulation.

The latest development was welcomed by local cement manufacturers, which said that products have been rampantly mislabeled.

"This is a welcome development and a huge victory for the local cement industry and the thousands of workers that it employs," the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) said in a separate statement.

"We are hoping that through this issuance, the rampant mislabeling of imported cement products as locally made will be completely eradicated," it added. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News