Consumer Protection Act
RA 7394
AGENA MARIE SAN PABLO, CPA
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
It shall be the duty of the State:
a. to develop and provide safety and quality standards for
consumer products, including performance or use-
oriented standards, codes of practice and methods of
tests;
b. to assist the consumer in evaluating the quality,
including safety, performance and comparative utility of
consumer products;
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
c. to protect the public against unreasonable risks of
injury associated with consumer products;
d. to undertake research on quality improvement of
products and investigation into causes and prevention of
product related deaths, illness and injuries;
e. to assure the public of the consistency of standardized
products.
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Enforcing agencies:
a. Department of Health
b. Department of Agriculture
c. Department of Trade and Industry
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Duty of the Agencies
Whenever the departments find, by their own initiative or by
petition of a consumer, that a consumer product is found to be
injurious, unsafe or dangerous, it shall, after due notice and hearing,
make the appropriate order for its recall, prohibition or seizure from
public sale or distribution: Provided, that, in the sound discretion of
the department it may declare a consumer product to be imminently
injurious, unsafe or dangerous, and order is immediate recall, ban or
seizure from public sale or distribution, in which case, the seller,
distributor, manufacturer or producer thereof shall be afforded a
hearing within forty-eight (48) hours from such order.
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Amendment and Revocation of Declaration of the Injurious, Unsafe
or Dangerous Character of a Consumer Product
In case the department, upon petition by an interested party or its
own initiative and after due notice and hearing, determines a
consumer product to be substandard or materially defective, it shall
so notify the manufacturer, distributor or seller thereof of such
finding and order such manufacturer, distributor or seller to:
a) give notice to the public of the defect or failure to comply with the
product safety standards; and
b) give notice to each distributor or retailer of such product.
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
The department shall also direct the manufacturer, distributor or seller of
such product to extend any or all of the following remedies to the injured
person:
a) to bring such product into conformity with the requirements of the
applicable consumer product standards or to repair the defect in order to
conform with the same;
b) to replace the product with a like or equivalent product which complies
with the applicable consumer product standards which does not contain the
defect;
c) to refund the purchase price of the product less a reasonable allowance
for use; and
d) to pay the consumer reasonable damages as may be determined by the
department. (Sec. 11, RA7394)
Deceptive Sales Act and Practices
An act or practice shall be deemed deceptive whenever the producer,
manufacturer, supplier, or seller, through concealment, false
representation, or fraudulent manipulation, induces a consumer to
enter into a sales or lease transaction of any consumer product or
service. Without limiting the scope of the above paragraph, the act
or practice of a seller or supplier is deceptive when it represents
that:
a) A consumer product or service has the sponsorship, approval,
performance, characteristics, ingredients, accessories, uses, or
benefits it does not have.
Deceptive Sales Act and Practices
b) A consumer product or service is of a particular standard, quality,
grade, style, or model when in fact it is not;
c) A consumer product is new, original, or unused, when in fact, it is
in a deteriorated, altered, reconditioned, reclaimed, or second-hand
state;
d) A consumer product or service is available to the consumer for a
reason that is different from the fact;
e) A consumer product or service has been supplied in accordance
with the previous representation when in fact it is not;
Deceptive Sales Act and Practices
f) A consumer product or service can be supplied in a quantity
greater than the supplier intends;
g) A service, or repair of a consumer product is needed when in fact
it is not;
h) A specific price advantage of a consumer product exists when in
fact it does not;
i) The sales act or practice involves or does not involve a warranty, a
disclaimer of warranties, particular warranty terms, or other rights,
remedies, or obligations if the indication is false; and
j) The seller or supplier has a sponsorship, approval, or affiliation he
does not have. (Sec. 52, R.A. 7394)
Product Service and Warranty
The provisions of the Civil Code on conditions and warranties shall
govern all contracts of sale with conditions and warranties.
In addition to the Civil Code provisions on sale with warranties, the
following provisions shall govern the sale of consumer products with
warranty:
a) Terms of express warranty. – Any seller or manufacturer who gives
an express warranty shall:
1. Set forth the terms of warranty in clear and readily understandable
language and clearly identify himself as the warrantor;
2. Identify the party to whom the warranty is extended;
Product Service and Warranty
b) Express warranty – operative from moment of sale. – All written
warranties or guarantees issued by a manufacturer, producer, or importer
shall be operative from the moment of sale.
1) Sales Report. – All sales made by distributors of products covered by this
Article shall be reported to the manufacturer, producer, or importer of the
product sold within thirty (30) days from date of purchase, unless otherwise
agreed upon. The report shall contain, among others, the date of purchase,
model of the product bought, its serial number, name and address of the
buyer. The report made in accordance with this provision shall be equivalent
to a warranty registration with the manufacturer, producer, or importer. Such
registration is sufficient to hold the manufacturer, producer, or importer
liable, in appropriate cases, under its warranty.
Product Service and Warranty
2) Failure to make or send report. – Failure of the distributor to
make the report or send them the form required by the
manufacturer, producer, or importer shall relieve the latter of its
liability under the warranty: Provided, however, That the
distributor who failed to comply with its obligation to send the
sales reports shall be personally liable under the warranty. For
this purpose, the manufacturer shall be obligated to make good
the warranty at the expense of the distributor.
Product Service and Warranty
3) Retail. – The retailer shall be subsidiarily liable under the
warranty in case of failure of both the manufacturer and
distributor to honor the warranty. In such case, the retailer shall
shoulder the expenses and costs necessary to honor the
warranty. Nothing therein shall prevent the retailer from
proceeding against the distributor or manufacturer.
Product Service and Warranty
4) Enforcement of warranty or guarantee. – The warranty rights can be
enforced by presentment of a claim. To this end, the purchaser needs only
to present to the immediate seller either the warranty card or the official
receipt along with the product to be serviced or returned to the
immediate seller. No other documentary requirement shall be demanded
from the purchaser. If the immediate seller is the manufacturer's factory
or showroom, the warranty shall immediately be honored. If the product
was purchased from a distributor, the distributor shall likewise
immediately honor the warranty. In the case of a retailer other than the
distributor, the former shall take responsibility without cost to the buyer
of presenting the warranty claim to the distributor in the consumer's
behalf.
Product Service and Warranty
c) Designation of warranties. – A written warranty shall clearly
and conspicuously designate such warranty as:
1. "Full warranty" if the written warranty meets the minimum
requirements set forth below (d); or
2. "Limited warranty" if the written warranty does not meet such
minimum requirements.
Product Service and Warranty
d) Minimum standards for warranties. – For the warrantor of a consumer
product to meet the minimum standards for warranty, he shall:
1. Remedy such consumer product within a reasonable time and without
charge in case of a defect, malfunction or failure to conform to such written
warranty;
2. Permit the consumer to elect whether to ask for a refund or replacement
without charge of such product or part, as the case may be, where after
reasonable number of attempts to remedy the defect or malfunction, the
product continues to have the defect or to malfunction.
The warrantor will not be required to perform the above duties if he can
show that the defect, malfunction or failure to conform to a written warranty
was caused by damage due to unreasonable use thereof.
Product Service and Warranty
e) Duration of warranty. – The seller and the consumer may
stipulate the period within which the express warranty shall be
enforceable. If the implied warranty on merchantability
accompanies an express warranty, both will be of equal duration.
Any other implied warranty shall endure not less than sixty (60)
days nor more than one (1) year following the sale of new
consumer products.
Product Service and Warranty
f) Breach of warranties. –
1. In case of breach of express warranty, the consumer may elect to
have the goods repaired or its purchase price refunded by the
warrantor. In case the repair of the product in whole or in part is
elected, the warranty work must be made to conform to the express
warranty within thirty (30) days by either the warrantor or his
representative. The thirty-day period, however, may be extended by
conditions which are beyond the control of the warrantor or his
representative. In case the refund of the purchase price is elected,
the amount directly attributable to the use of the consumer prior to
the discovery of the non-conformity shall be deducted.
Product Service and Warranty
f) Breach of warranties. –
2. In case of breach of implied warranty, the consumer may
retain the goods and recover damages, or reject the goods,
cancel the contract, and recover from the seller so much of the
purchase price as has been paid, including damages.
Labelling and Packaging
It shall be unlawful for any person, either as principal or agent,
engaged in the labeling or packaging of any consumer product,
to display or distribute or to cause to be displayed or distributed
in commerce any consumer product whose package or label
does not conform to the provisions of this Chapter.
Minimum Labeling Requirements for Consumer
Products
All consumer products domestically sold, whether manufactured
locally or imported, shall indicate the following in their
respective labels or packaging:
a) its correct and registered trade name or brand name;
b) its duly registered trademark;
c) its duly registered business name;
d) the address of the manufacturer, importer, or repacker of the
consumer product in the Philippines;
Minimum Labeling Requirements for Consumer
Products
e) its general make or active ingredients;
f) the net quantity of contents, in terms of weight, measure, or
numerical count, rounded off to at least the nearest tenths in the
metric system;
g) country of manufacture, if imported; and
h) if a consumer product is manufactured, refilled, or repacked
under license from a principal, the label shall so state the fact.
Minimum Labeling Requirements for Consumer
Products
The following may be required by the concerned department in
accordance with the rules and regulations they will promulgate
under authority of this Act:
a) whether it is flammable or inflammable;
b) directions for use, if necessary;
c) warning of toxicity;
d) wattage, voltage or amperes; or
e) process of manufacture used, if necessary.
Additional Labeling Requirements for Food
The following additional labeling requirements shall be imposed by
the concerned department for food:
a) expiry or expiration date, where applicable;
b) whether the consumer product is semi-processed, fully processed,
ready-to-cook, ready-to-eat, prepared food or just plain mixture;
c) nutritive value, if any;
d) whether the ingredients used are natural or synthetic, as the case
may be;
e) such other labeling requirements as the concerned department
may deem necessary and reasonable.
Exemption for Labeling Requirements
1. If its labeling or advertising is false or misleading in any way;
2. If it is offered for sale under the name of another food; and
3. If it is an imitation of another food, unless its label bears in
type of uniform size and prominence, the word “imitation” and,
immediately thereafter, the name of the food imitated.
Consumer Rights
1. Price Tag Act
"Price tag" means any device, written, printed, affixed or attached to
a consumer product or displayed in a consumer repair or service
establishment for the purpose of indicating the retail price per unit
or service.
It shall be unlawful to offer any consumer product for retail sale to
the public without an appropriate price tag, label or marking publicly
displayed to indicate the price of each article and said products shall
not be sold at a price higher than that stated therein and without
discrimination to all buyers.
Consumer Rights
A Price Tag Should:
• Be clearly written;
• State the price of the commodity per unit (piece, kilogram,
meter, liter, etc.) in Philippine currency, except when a law or
regulation allows consumer products to be sold in foreign
currency such as in the case of duty free shops;
• Bear no erasures or alterations of any sort.
Consumer Rights
Reasons Why Price Tags Are Mandatory:
1. To provide buyers with adequate information and guide to enable
them to compare quality and prices of goods and patronize stores
selling quality products at low prices.
2. Its presence will discourage and minimize haggling which is a
waste of time, money and energy of both buyer and seller.
3. It also expedites transactions and enables both the buyer and the
seller to use the time and energy for more productive endeavors.
