Toxics watchdog EcoWaste Coalition condemned the continued sale by online merchants of unauthorized cosmetics contaminated with mercury, a banned chemical still used in cosmetics such as skin lightening products.
“Despite being flagged for fraudulent sales, the unabated trade in online shopping platforms of unauthorized skin lightening products known to contain mercury continues as if selling such health-damaging whiteners is not a fraudulent act,” said Ecowaste Coalition national coordinator Aileen Lucero.
It said among the unauthorized products sold online are Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene and Goree Day & Night Beauty Cream from Pakistan, which the Food and Drug Administration banned in 2017 for containing mercury above the permissible limit of one part per million.
The Department of Trade and Industry on June 5 issued a letter to two of the country’s biggest e-commerce platforms to explain the continued and rampant fraudulent sales that online consumers were complaining about.
The two platforms were also encouraged to remove unregistered and unlicensed online merchants.
Republic Act No. 7394 (Consumer Act) and No. 8293 (Intellectual Property Code) and the Joint Administrative Order No. 22-01, Series of 2022 (Guidelines for Online Business Reiterating the Laws and Regulations Applicable to Online Businesses and Consumers) prohibit deceptive, unconscionable and unfair online sales and practices.
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual earlier assured Filipino consumers their welfare would be protected and opportunistic sellers would be made accountable.
The EcoWaste Coalition welcomed Pascual’s assurance to uphold the rights of online consumers, which include the right to information, right to safety and right to redress, as well as the right to a healthy environment, among other rights and to make those who disrespect these rights liable.
“To make online shopping safe for consumers, e-commerce platforms must ensure that only safe products are listed and sold by local and foreign sellers. Health products such as cosmetics with no valid certificates of product notification have no place in legitimate online business,” Lucero said.