Online platforms found to have sellers engaging in fraudulent or illegal sales practices will be held liable by a new joint administrative order (JAO) that also grants the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) takedown powers of sites of such sellers.
DTI Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said in a press conference while existing regulations apply to both physical stores and online stores, JAO No. 22-01 consolidates these laws for swifter implementation and action.
Castelo said the main difference is that JAO’s Section 13.2 provides a three-day calendar “safe harbor “period to take down a post in cases of prima facie violation of pertinent laws, without prejudice to the filing of appropriate administrative actions against all violators.
“Failure to take down post after notice shall be construed as an intentional and overt ac that shall aggravate the offense charged,” the JAO reads.
Castelo said in 2021, the DTI received 12,000 complaints from consumers on their online transactions mostly from the three largest portals, Shopee, Lazada and Zalora. That is down from 16,000 in 2020.
As of the end of February, the agency received 3,950 complaints of which 807 were resolved; 116 were issued certificate to file an action; 71 withdrawn and the remainder for mediation.
JAO No. 22-01 provides a “non-exhaustive” list of at least 50 categories of products that are prohibited or regulated.
Under the JAO, all platforms need to verify if the goods sold by their merchants are regulated, prohibited, original, genuine, licensed, or unexpired.
All digital platforms including social media marketplaces such as Facebook/Meta, Instagram, Viber, Lazada, Shopee, Carousell, among others, must comply with all existing laws, rules, and regulations and put in place strict protocols to prevent recidivists or those previously found administratively liable from selling again.”
The DTI has seen the proliferation of items that are prohibited for sale without license or permit, among which are fertilizers, chainsaws, medicines, and consumer products under the standards mandatory list as well as repeaters, portable cell site equipment signal jammers. – Irma Isip
