LACK OF IMPORTER’S INFORMATION IN PRODUCT PACKAGING

Perhaps not everyone of us would really care, but I know that there are many patriotic Filipinos who would really want to know the countries of origins of the products that they are buying, for their own reasons. More often than not however, they would like to know where the product is made, so that they could decide to buy the product or not. The bad news is, there are hundreds, if not thousands of products out in the market that are not properly labelled, such that consumers do not have a way of knowing where those products are coming from. The good news is, there is a law that requires importers and manufacturers to place the required information in their packaging, including its country of origin. Although the Food, Drug and Cosmetics act mandates the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce the said law, its jurisdiction does not include all other products that could not be classified as foods, drugs and cosmetics. Presumably, everything that could not fall under these three categories would fall under the jurisdiction of the DTI. Given the apparent overlaps between the jurisdictions of the FDA and the DTI, how are they coordinating their actions between the three of them? And how would consumers which of the two to go to in case of complaints? And where could we see a running record of compliance? And where can we find a list of our own homegrown products, just in case our own patriotism would inspire us to buy local? IKE SENERES/04-06-24