EcoWaste Coalition Welcomes Full Enforcement of the Internet Transactions Law

Quezon City.  The environmental and health watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition welcomed the implementation of Republic Act No. 11967, or the Internet Transactions Act, describing its full enforcement after the transitory period as a beaming light in the tunnel.

Enacted in 2023 by the 19^th Congress, RA 11967 took effect last June 20 following the 18-month period of transition, which provided digital platforms, online merchants, and other players in the thriving e-commerce  market adequate time to comply with the requirements of the law.

As announced by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), RA 11967 empowers the department to issue takedown orders against online listings for unlawful goods or services.  “Digital platforms can also be held solidarily liable with sellers for violations if they fail to act on illicit activities on their sites,” the DTI said.

“Now that the transition period is over, we expect all digital platforms, e-retailers, online merchants and other concerned parties to abide by the requirements of RA 11967, including the faithful observance of the ‘E-Commerce Code of Conduct’ to protect the consumer interest,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.  “Having monitored the uninhibited sale of many prohibited goods online, we see the law’s implementation like a beaming light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Our laws cannot be static and stagnant, and must always move with the changing times,” according to Atty. Grip Bueta, Legal Counsel of EcoWaste Coalition. “As the digital e-commerce space continues to grow and as more sellers and consumers transact online, efforts to protect the people’s right to a clean and healthy environment – through ensuring safe, non-toxic, and non-hazardous products – must also be enhanced in the internet of things. RA 11967’s full effectivity is thus a welcome development,” he added.

From now on, every person engaged in e-commerce are required to stick to the said Code of Conduct, which affirms that goods and services sold online must conform to regulatory standards and that products that have been recalled in the offline retail market must not be sold online, among other provisions that recognize and uphold the basic consumer rights to information, choice, product safety and redress.

The EcoWaste Coalition is hopeful that the online marketplace will now be safe from health- and environmentally-damaging products with the creation of the E-Commerce Bureau (ECB) tasked to implement, monitor and ensure compliance with RA 11967. However, DTI’s “authority is ancillary to the primary jurisdiction of other regulatory agencies over specific goods or services” as the department has clarified.

“We are pinning our hopes on the effective and efficient performance of the ECB and other regulatory and law enforcement agencies, backed by an enlightened and empowered citizenry, to finally put a stop to the unrestrained use of e-commerce and social media platforms in the unlawful and unethical advertising, promotion and sale of dangerous products such as those containing banned hazardous substances,” the EcoWaste Coalition said.

Among the dangerous products being sold online, which the EcoWaste Coalition has been monitoring and tracking for many years, include skin lightening products containing mercury, paints and similar surface coatings laden with lead, and other consumer and household products not compliant to regulatory standards.

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