DTI expresses concern over four-fold surge in plywood imports

The Trade Department expressed concern over the four-fold surge in plywood imports since 2015, saying it could threaten the local manufacturing industry and compromise the safety of consumers.

The agency now plans to place plywood imports under mandatory certification to prevent the sale of substandard plywood products in the local market, according to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

Lopez urged stakeholders to voluntarily submit inputs and data that will help the government determine the reason for increased imports.

He said the objective was to ensure the safety of the consumers, as the selling of substandard plywood products was “unfair to all of us” and was a threat to public safety and the local manufacturing industry.

“We saw the numbers in plywood. In a three-year period since plywood was removed from the list in 2015, imports have rapidly increased and these are not tested for standard compliance.  It’s good if these products comply with the standards,” Lopez said.

Data from the Bureau of Philippine Standards showed that plywood imports from January to June 2015 reached only 8,624 metric tons with an estimated value of $4.5 million. In the same period in 2019, plywood imports quadrupled to 32,768 MT worth about $12.75 million.

The country imported 194,826 MT of plywood worth $75.58 million from July 2015 to June 2019.

“We are adding more products in the mandatory compliance since many of them were released from the list. Since then, we saw import surges of these products. And since they are not subjected to mandatory testing, substandard products can come in,” Lopez said.

He said the substandard plywood could be sold at a very low price while local manufacturers were forced to sell at a loss or stop operations. A situation like this could shrink the country’s manufacturing base and widen the trade deficit, he said.

Under the proposed DAO, plywood products should comply with the Technical Regulation for Mandatory PS Licensing Scheme under the International Standard for Plywood, PNS ISO 12465:2017.

The BPS will test plywood samples before issuing PS Quality or Safety Certification marks to local manufacturers and import commodity clearances to importers.

The department also issued new technical regulations for cement, steel bars and glass. 

Consultations are ongoing for regulations on black iron and galvanized iron, steel pipe and steel sheets. Aside from plywood, the department is also working on a draft DAO for ceramic tiles.