Bigger fines sought for selling uncertified goods

Philippine News Agency

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Tuesday said it was pushing for bigger fines on importers, distributors and sellers of uncertified products.

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said that the current fines imposed on violators are based on laws that were enacted many years ago, thus do not really discourage brazen individuals and companies from bringing in and selling subpar products.

“We have many fines that need updating,” Pascual said during a press conference in Makati where they showed the government’s latest haul of uncertified appliances.

“If the laws are not updated, the fine amounts become too petty,” he added.

Fillip Sawali, the director of the DTI’s Fair Trade and Enforcement Bureau, said that the fines set under the Vape Act, lapsed into law in July of 2022, have more stringent fines, ranging from hundreds of thousands of pesos to millions of pesos depending on the infraction.

“Those are what we hope to follow, that the Consumer Act violation will also be up-to-date,” Sawali said during the same event.

Under current laws, Sawali said retailers were fined just P25,000 for every violation while suppliers and importers were penalized P25,000 and P50,000.

He said that they are continuously working with lawmakers to push for these reforms.

Since the DTI formed its task force called “Kalasag” last April until June, P89.76 million worth of uncertified goods have been confiscated by the government agency.

This translates to a little more than 311, 200 units of uncertified goods, which range from electrical appliances to construction materials, down to helmets and visors, as well as automotive supplies.

Their latest raid in Tanza, Cavite, resulted in the seizure of P8.27 million worth of goods, most of which are appliances and other consumer goods.

Last month, the DTI task force also seized P9.35 million worth of the same goods in Plaridel, Bulacan, as well as another P7.75M worth of contraband in Valenzuela City.

Pascual said they plan to request from Congress more funding to ramp up their crackdown on these goods of questionable quality.