The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it re-exported 19,499 pieces of substandard rubber inner tubes for motorcycles, valued at approximately PHP 500,000, back to their country of origin – China.
In a statement, the DTI said the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) witnessed on May 22, 2025, the re-exportation of substandard tires to China.
According to the DTI-BPS, the inner tubes intended for motorcycle tire sizes 2.00-17, 2.25-17, 2.50-17 and 2.75-17, failed independent testing, specifically the tensile strength and elongation tests. These failures indicated that they did not meet minimum requirements ofPhilippine National Standard (PNS) 34:2000, which sets the safety and qualitybenchmarks for rubber inner tubes for pneumatic tires.
“A rubber inner tube may seem like a small thing, but on the road, it can be the difference between life and death. “We take this work seriously because safety is non-negotiable for the millions of Filipinos who depend on motorcycles for work, school, and livelihood,” said DTI Secretary Cristina A. Roque.
“Let me be clear: the DTI’s goal is not to shut down businesses, but to uplift those that follow the rules and invest in quality. In line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive and the vision of a Bagong Pilipinas, we take a firm yet fair approach,” the trade chief added.
Beyond consumer protection, the re-exportation also considers the economic impact on businesses. This allows businesses to recover some value from their non-compliant goods and discourages future attempts to import substandard products.
During the process, the DTI-BPS facilitated and witnessed the re-inventory, re-packaging into sacks, sealing and loading of the non-compliant inner tubes into a container truck for shipment back to the manufacturer.
DTI Department Administrative Order 05:2008 outlines options for importers of substandard products, including corrective action, re-testing, destruction, or re-export.
