RA 7394
Consumer Act of the
Philippines
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Article 5.
Declaration of Policy – 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;
c) to protect the public against unreasonable risks of injury
associated with consumer products;
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Article 5.
Declaration of Policy – It shall be the duty of the State:
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.
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8 Basic Consumer
Rights
◈ The right to basic needs
◈ The right to safety
◈ The right to information
◈ The right to choose
◈ The right to representation
◈ The right to redress
◈ The right to consumer education
◈ The right to healthy environment
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Article 6.
Implementing Agencies – The provisions of this Article and its
implementing rules and regulations shall be enforced by:
a) The Department of Health with respect to food, drugs,
cosmetics, devices and substances
b) The Department of Agriculture with respect to products
related to agriculture, and
c) The Department of Trade and Industry with respect to
other consumer products not specified above.
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Article 7.
Promulgation and Adoption of Consumer Product Standards. – The
concerned department shall establish consumer product quality and
safety standards which shall consist of one or more of the following:
a) requirements to performance, composition, contents,
design, construction, finish, packaging of a consumer
product;
b) requirements as to kind, class, grade, dimensions,
weights, material;
c) requirements as to the methods of sampling, tests and
codes used to check the quality of the products;
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Article 7.
Promulgation and Adoption of Consumer Product Standards. – The
concerned department shall establish consumer product quality and
safety standards which shall consist of one or more of the following:
d) requirements as to precautions in storage,
transporting and packaging;
e) requirements that a consumer product be marked
with or accompanied by clear and adequate safety
warnings or instructions, or requirements respecting the
form of warnings or instructions.
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Article 9.
Effectivity of Rules -
a) Each consumer product standard or safety rule shall specify the date such
rule is to take effect, which shall not exceed ninety (90) days from the
promulgated unless the concerned department finds, for good cause shown,
that a later effective date is in public interest and publishes its reasons for
such findings.
b) The department may, by regulation, prohibit a manufacturer from
stockpiling consumer products so as to prevent such manufacturer from
circumventing the purposes of this paragraph.
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
Article 10.
Injurious, Dangerous and Unsafe Products- -
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.
The ban on the sale and distribution of a consumer product adjudged injurious, unsafe
or dangerous, or imminently injurious, unsafe or dangerous under the preceding
paragraph shall stay in force until such time that its safety can be assured or measures
to ensure its safety have been established.
Consumer Product Quality and Safety
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Article 13.
New Products. –
The concerned department shall take measures to make a
list of new consumer products and to cause the
publication by the respective manufacturers or importers
of such products a list thereof together with the
descriptions in a newspaper of general circulation.
Deceptive Sales Acts and Practices
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◈ Article 50.
Prohibition Against Deceptive Sales Acts or Practices. –
A deceptive act or practice by a seller or supplier in connection
with a consumer transaction violates this Act whether it occurs
before, during or after the transaction. An act or practice shall be
deemed deceptive whenever the producer, manufacturer, supplier
or seller, through concealment, false representation of fraudulent
manipulation, induces a consumer to enter into a sales or lease
transaction of any consumer product or service.
Deceptive Sales Acts and Practices
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Examples of deceptive acts:
◈ a) a consumer product or service has the sponsorship,
approval, performance, characteristics, ingredients,
accessories, uses, or benefits it does not have;
◈ 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;
Deceptive Sales Acts and Practices
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◈ 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;
◈ 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;
Deceptive Sales Acts and Practices
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◈ 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.
Product and Service Warranties
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Article 67.
Applicable Law on Warranties. –
The provisions of the Civil Code on conditions and warranties
shall govern all contracts of sale with conditions and
warranties.
Consumer Act of the Ph shall have suppletory application.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
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Implied Warranties (Art. 1547, Civil Code of the Phil.)
1. Warranty that seller has right to sell
2. Warranty against eviction
3. Warranty against encumbrances
4. Warranty against Hidden Defects
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
17 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;
3) State the products or parts covered;
4) State what the warrantor will do in the event of a defect,
malfunction of failure to conform to the written warranty and at
whose expense;
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
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5) State what the consumer must do to avail of the rights
which accrue to the warranty; and
6) Stipulate the period within which, after notice of defect,
malfunction or failure to conform to the warranty, the
warrantor will perform any obligation under the warranty.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
19 All written warranties or guarantees issued by a
manufacturer, producer, or importer shall be operative from
the moment of sale.
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.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
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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 of 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.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
21 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.
All covenants, stipulations or agreements contrary to the
provisions of this Article shall be without legal effect.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
22 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.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
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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.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
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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.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
25 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 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.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
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2) In case of breach of implied warranty, the consumer
may retain in the goods and recover damages, or reject the
goods, cancel and contract and recover from the seller so
much of the purchase price as has been paid, including
damages.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
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In every contract for the supply of services to a consumer
made by a seller in the course of a business, there is an
implied warranty that the service will be rendered with
due care and skill and that any material supplied in
connection with such services will be reasonably fit for the
purpose for which it is supplied.
Consumer Product and Service Warranties
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The provision of this Act on warranty shall not apply to
professional services of certified public accountants, architects,
engineers, lawyers, veterinarians, optometrists, pharmacists,
nurses, nutritionists, dietitians, physical therapists, salesmen,
medical and dental practitioners and other professionals
engaged in their respective professional endeavors.
Service firms shall guarantee workmanship and replacement of
spare parts for a period not less than ninety (90) days which
shall be indicated in the pertinent invoices.
Labeling and Packaging
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Article 74. Declaration of Policy. – The State shall enforce
compulsory labeling, and fair packaging to enable the consumer
to obtain accurate information as to the nature, quality and
quantity of the contents of consumer products and to facilitate
his comparison of the value of such products.
Labeling and Packaging
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The prohibition in this Chapter shall not apply to persons
engaged in the business of wholesale or retail distributors of
consumer products except to the extent that such persons:
a) are engaged in the packaging or labeling of such products;
b) prescribe or specify by any means the manner in which such
products are packaged or labeled; or
c) having knowledge, refuse to disclose the source of the
mislabeled or mispackaged products.
Labeling and Packaging
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Article 77. Minimum Labeling Requirements for Consumer
Products. – All consumer products domestically sold whether
manufactured locally or imported shall indicate the following in
their respective labels of 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, repacker of the
consumer product in the Philippines;
Labeling and Packaging
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e) its general make or active ingredients;
f) the net quality of contents, in terms of weight, measure or
numerical count rounded of 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.
Labeling and Packaging
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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.
Labeling and Packaging
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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.
Labeling and Packaging
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Price tags, labels or markings must be written clearly, indicating
the price of the consumer product per unit in pesos and
centavos.
Labeling and Packaging
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Article 84. 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;
Labeling and Packaging
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c) nutritive value, if any;
d) whether the ingredients use are natural or synthetic, as the
case may be;
e) such other labeling requirements as the concerned department
may deem necessary and reasonable.
Apply Consumer Rights
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Article 159. Consumer Complaints. – The concerned department may
commerce an investigation upon petition or upon letter-complaint from
any consumer: Provided, That, upon a finding by the department of
prima facie violation of any provisions of this Act or any rule or
regulation promulgated under its authority, it may motu proprio or upon
verified complaint commerce formal administrative action against any
person who appears responsible therefor. The department shall establish
procedures for systematically logging in, investigating and responding
to consumer complaints into the development of consumer policies,
rules and regulations, assuring as far as practicable simple and easy
access on the part of the consumer to seek redress for his grievances.
Apply Consumer Rights
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Article 164. Sanctions. – After investigation, any of the following
administrative penalties may be imposed even if not prayed for in the
complaint:
a) the issuance of a cease and desist order, Provided, however, That
such order shall specify the acts that respondent shall cease and desist
from and shall require him to submit a report of compliance therewith
within a reasonable time;
b) the acceptance of a voluntary assurance of compliance or
discontinuance from the respondent which may include any or all of the
following terms and conditions:
Apply Consumer Rights
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1) an assurance to comply with the provisions of this Act and its implementing
rules and regulations;
2) an assurance to refrain from engaging in unlawful acts and practices or unfair
or unethical trade practices subject of the formal investigation;
3) an assurance to comply with the terms and conditions specified in the
consumer transaction subject of the complaint;
4) an assurance to recall, replace, repair, or refund the money value of defective
products distributed in commerce;
5) an assurance to reimburse the complaint out of any money or property in
connection with the complaint, including expenses in making or pursuing the
complaint, if any, and to file a bond to guarantee compliance therewith.
Apply Consumer Rights
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c) restitution or rescission of the contract without damages;
d) condemnation and seizure of the consumer product found to be
hazardous to health and safety unless the respondent files a bond to
answer for any damage or injury that may arise from the continued use
of the product;
e) the imposition of administrative fines in such amount as deemed
reasonable by the Secretary, which shall in no case be less that Five
hundred pesos (P500.00) nor more than Three hundred thousand pesos
(P300,000.00) depending on the gravity of the offense, and an
additional fine of not more than One thousand pesos (P1,000.00) or
each day of continuing violation.
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listening!
Brought to you by:
Harold Lagman
Starley Patangui
Keith Jaslyn Larot
Allen Capulong
Anlie Gonzales
John Lloyd Figueroa
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