Fair Trade Commission Guidelines on Handling Cases Governed by Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law

Passed by the 151st Commissioners' Meeting on August 31, 1994
Amended by the 269th Commissioners' Meeting on December 24, 1996
Points 22(4) and 23(4), 23(5), 23(7) amended, Points 22(27), 22(28), 22(29), 22(30) and 23(11), 23(12), 23(13), 23(14) added, and Point 26 deleted by the 311th Commissioners' Meeting on October 15, 1997
Point 16(9) amended to 16(8) and Point 6(3) deleted by the 387th Commissioners' Meeting on April 6, 1999
Points 16(6) and 21(7) amended by the 417th Commissioners' Meeting on November 3, 1999
Amended by the 568th Commissioners' Meeting on September 26, 2002
Promulgated by Order (91) Kung San Tzu No. 0910010812 on November 5, 2002
Amended by the 688th Commissioners' Meeting on January 13, 2005
Promulgated by Order (94) Kung Fa Tzu No. 0940001278 on February 24, 2005
Promulgated by Order (94) Kung Fa Tzu No. 0940006949 on August 26, 2005


Chapter 1  General Provisions 

    The Fair Trade Commission (hereinafter, the "Commission") has adopted these Case Handling Principles (hereinafter, the "Principles") for purposes of ensuring fair competition among enterprises, protecting the rights and interests of consumers, effectively enforcing Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law (hereinafter, the "Law"), and prohibiting enterprises from making or using false or misleading representations or symbols on goods (or in connection with services), or in advertisements, or by any other means of making known to the public. 
    The term "goods" (or services) in Article 21 of the Law refers to subject matters of trade having economic value and other trade-related matters that are not directly related to subject matters of trade but that have the effect of solicitation, including an enterprise's identity, qualifications, business condition, relationship to other enterprises, non-profit (philanthropic) organizations, or government agencies, gifts or prizes attached to such trade by the enterprise, and so forth. 
    The term "other means of making known to the public" in Article 21 of the Law refers to any act of transmitting information that may directly or indirectly cause the non-specific general or relevant public to collectively see or hear of it. 
    Examples of "other means of making known to the public" include [inter alia] all of the following: billboards, business cards, goods or services seminars/presentations, provision of information by an enterprise for publication by the media in the form of reportage, enabling a substantial number of enterprises to collectively see or hear of information by means of mailings, publishing information in publicly sold books, delivering publicity materials to consumers by way of promotion or introduction, and distributing product manuals to professionals for further dissemination of information to the public. 
    "Representation or symbol" in Article 21 of the Law means an act sufficient to express or transmit information or ideas having commercial value by means of written or spoken language, sound, graphics, marks, numbers, images, colors, shapes, actions, objects, or other means. 
    "False" in Article 21 of the Law means a representation or symbol that is inconsistent with facts, where the discrepancy would be unacceptable to a considerable number of the general or relevant public, and sufficient to cause misunderstanding or erroneous decisions.
    "Misleading" in Article 21 of the Law means a representation or symbol, whether or not consistent with facts, that is sufficient to cause misunderstanding or erroneous decisions by a considerable number of the general or relevant public.
    The principles for determining whether a representation or symbol is false or misleading are as follows: 
    (1) Determination of whether a representation or symbol is false or misleading shall be based on the understanding of trading counterparts. Ordinary goods (or services) shall be judged on the basis of the general public exercising an ordinary degree of care; specialized professional goods shall be judged on the basis of the relevant public exercising an ordinary degree of care. 
    (2) Where a representation or symbol, observed in isolation, is found to be true, but the overall impression and effect it gives when observed in whole is sufficient to cause misunderstanding or erroneous decisions by a considerable number of the general or relevant public, it shall be deemed misleading. 
    (3) Where the content of a representation or symbol is manifested by contrast/comparison or especially distinctive means, and where the major part that is especially distinctive could easily form the major factor contributing to a consumer's decision whether to transact, the especially distinctive major part may be observed independently in determining whether the content is false or misleading.
    (4) A representation or symbol objectively having multiple reasonable interpretations shall not be deemed false as long as one of the meanings is true; however, this shall not apply when the intent to mislead is evident.
    The following factors shall be considered in determining whether a representation or symbol is false or misleading: 
    (1) The degree of discrepancy between the representation or symbol and actual conditions. 
    (2) Whether the content of the representation or symbol is sufficient to affect reasonable judgment-making and trading decisions of members of the general public possessing ordinary knowledge and experience. 
    (3) Effect on the economic interests of competing enterprises and trading counterparts. 
    Whether a pre-sale housing advertisement is false or misleading shall be judged on the basis of the objective circumstances at the time of use of the advertisement by the advertiser. 
    Where an advertiser of a pre-sale housing advertisement knew or was capable of knowing at the time it used an advertisement that it would subsequently not be able to deliver content consistent with the advertisement, the advertisement is false or misleading. 
    "Objective circumstances" in paragraph 1 refers to the advertiser's ability to subsequently deliver, the prevailing laws and regulations, the supply of building materials¡Kand so forth. 
    Violation of Article 21 of the Law by an enterprise(s) may be handled by promulgation of an industry-wide regulatory explanation in instances where such violation has an extensive history, is prevalent throughout the industry, and is related to characteristics of the industry. 
Chapter 2  Procedures for Handling Complaint Cases 

Section 1  Initiation of False Advertising Cases 

    A complainant alleging a false or misleading representation or symbol by another enterprise shall be requested to describe the specific details and to provide his or her full name and address in writing. Where an oral complaint is made, the Commission shall make a written record of the complaint and, after reciting it to or having it read by the complainant to verify the accuracy of the content, shall annotate the year, month, and day, and then have the complainant sign or chop it. 
    Necessitated by the investigation of facts and evidence, a complainant making a complaint alleging employment of a false or misleading representation or symbol by another enterprise shall be required to provide relevant evidence and materials such as goods, packaging, and advertisements. A person authorizing another person to file a complaint shall execute a power of attorney and shall explain in what way the representation or symbol made by the other enterprise is sufficient to cause a typical person reasonable suspicion that it is false or misleading. 
    A complainant who does not provide relevant evidence or explanations in accordance with the preceding paragraph shall be notified in writing to do so within a reasonable period of time. 
    After receiving a written complaint, the responsible department, in addition to following the procedures set forth in the Commission's Government Document Handling Manual, shall carry out an initial formality review of the complaint, addressing the following matters: 
    (1) Whether it complies with Points 11 and 12 hereof. 
    (2) Whether the documents received are indeed complaints in nature shall be determined in pursuance with the intent of the filing parties. If the document received is of something in nature other than a complaint, such as an inquiry concerning the truthfulness of an advertisement, a conjecture that an advertisement contains a falsehood, or a request for an appraisal by the Commission, the responsible department shall reply via letter that the case does not fall within the Commission's official purview, and shall directly refer the matter for handling by the relevant competent authority or copy it to the enterprise(s) concerned for reference and handling. 
    (3) The injury or disadvantage suffered by the complainant as a result of the representation or symbol complained against; provided, this shall not apply to a complaint concerning matters involving public interest. 
    (4) If a case involves foreign elements, acceptance for processing shall be governed by the principles set forth in the Guidelines for Handling Cases Involving Foreign Elements, in addition to the procedures set forth above. 
    Where a complaint is formally deficient but supplementation is permissible, the complainant shall be informed in writing of making supplementation within a specific time limit; upon failure to make supplementation by the deadline, processing of the matter may be ceased. 
Section 2  Case Investigation 
    In addition to complying with the Commission's Points for Attention in Conducting Investigations, best efforts shall be made to ensure that investigation procedure is thorough, and redundant investigations shall be avoided; in addition, the procedures below may be followed: 
    (1) Notify the respondent enterprise to state its position in writing within a specific time limit. 
    (2) Notify the respondent enterprise to produce materials within a specific time limit. 
    (3) Notify the respondent enterprise to appear on a specified date and state its position. 
    (4) Visit the place of business of the respondent enterprise on a specified date to investigate. 
    If upon investigation of the facts of a case it is found that language employed by an enterprise in a representation or symbol is ambiguous or vague (falls into a gray area as to its legality), and no interpretive or prohibitive provisions have been set forth by other competent authorities or in other applicable laws or regulations, and the general consumer public has not yet formed a widespread consensus concerning its content, for example as in cases involving commonly used non-statutory language or where there is a lack of specific criteria on which to base judgment, the investigation may be suspended and the respondent informed by letter that no disposition will be rendered because the language used by the enterprise is not expressly prohibited by law, but that the opinion expressed by the respondent has been put on record, and the Commission will continue to monitor relevant public opinion and input for reference in subsequent law enforcement. 
    The responsible department shall keep cases under the preceding paragraph in a dedicated file, and sign and submit them for handling in routine or unscheduled reports. 
    Where the initial review of a complaint conducted by the unit responsible for the complaint is sufficient to conclude that the facts and reasons obviously do not meet the legal requirements for establishing a case, investigation may be foregone and, after signed request and approval, a response letter may first be sent to the complainant and then compiled with other such response letters and submitted to the Commissioners' Meeting on a monthly basis for further affirmation. 
    In investigation conducted by the responsible unit where it is sufficient to determine that the facts are straightforward and obviously not in violation of the law, the procedures set forth in the preceding paragraph may likewise be followed. 
    Under any of the following circumstances during a case investigation, the unit responsible for the complaint may cease the investigation and, signing and attaching its opinion, forward the case for review by the Commissioner in charge. With the Chairperson's approval, the case shall either be filed for reference, or closed by written response letter, and compiled with other like matters for monthly presentation to the Commissioners' Meeting: 
    (1) The matter is handled in accordance with Point 15. 
    (2) The products sold under the representation or symbol continue to be sold, but the respondent had already ceased or corrected the representation or symbol (whether or not the representation or symbol was false) before the complaint was filed. 
    (3) The respondent had already suspended or ceased business or been dissolved before the complaint was filed or, during the investigation, has suspended or ceased business, been dissolved, or moved to an unknown location such that the investigation is unable to proceed. 
    (4) The same representation or symbol that the complainant cited in the complaint against the enterprise has previously been the subject matter of a disposition by the Commission under the fore part of Article 41 of the Law. 
    (5) A same complainant has filed and withdrawn a complaint, and then subsequently without legitimate reason filed another complaint against the enterprise with respect to the same representation or symbol. 
    (6) The complaint is a civil matter that does not involve trading order or the public interest. 
    (7) The complaint involves a criminal case. 
    (8) More than one year has elapsed from the date of latest use of the representation or symbol to the time of the complaint; provided, this restriction shall not apply where the complainant afterward learned of the use of the violating representation or symbol by the enterprise and filed the complaint within six months from the day of so learning. 
    The respondent enterprise bears the burden of proving circumstances under subparagraph 8 of the preceding paragraph; the complainant bears the burden of proving that it learned of the violation only subsequently.
    If any of the following circumstances is present in a case in which the investigation is ceased, the complainant shall be notified in writing or the matter referred for handling by the relevant authorities: 
    (1) In disputes solely involving private rights or interests, to which the Civil Code or other special civil laws apply, such as defect warranties in sales contracts, the complainant shall be requested to pursue remedy directly through civil channels. 
    (2) In cases involving criminal matters, such as fraud, the complainant shall be requested to file a complaint (or file an information) with police/prosecutorial authorities, accompanied by concrete evidence. 
    Matters under the jurisdiction of other competent authorities should be referred to the relevant competent authority for handling: 
    (1) Where the content of advertisements for goods or services suggests or alludes to medical efficacy, it should be referred to the Department of Health for handling. 
    (2) Cosmetics goods advertisements should be referred to the Department of Health for handling.
    (3) Foods advertisements involving food sanitation administration should be referred to the Department of Health for handling.
    (4) Advertisements for medical treatment should be referred to the Department of Health for handling.
    (5) False labeling of dairy goods should be referred to the Department of Health for handling.
    (6) Issues of whether labeling of general merchandise is false or misleading should be referred to the Ministry of Economic Affairs for handling. 
    (7) Tobacco and alcohol labeling/indications advertising should be referred to the Department of National Treasury, Ministry of Finance for handling. 
    (8) Advertisements of accredited private supplementary (cram) schools should be referred to the competent authority for education. 
    (9) False advertisements with respect to employment placement or employee recruitment should be referred to the Council of Labor Affairs for handling. 
    (10) Radio and television advertisements that were reviewed and approved by the Government Information Office should be referred to the Government Information Office for handling. 
    (11) Pornographic advertisements and advertisements involving occult or paranormal powers or phenomena should be referred to the Government Information Office for handling. 
    (12) Travel services advertisements should be referred to the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for handling. 
    (13) False or misleading advertisements by securities or futures enterprises should be referred to the Securities and Futures Commission, Ministry of Finance for handling. 
    (14) Cases of advertisements causing people to wrongly assume that an advertiser who has not duly obtained certified public accountant credentials has such credentials should be handled by the Ministry of Finance. 
    (15) Matters concerning the protection of consumer rights and interests¡Xe.g. consumer safety, effectiveness of standard form contract clauses, special types of sale, or an enterprise operator's duty of truthfulness in goods advertisements¡Xwhere determined to involve only private rights disputes and to cause insignificant impairment to trading order or the public interest, should be referred to the Consumer Protection Commission for forwarding to the relevant agencies responsible for consumer dispute resolution for handling. 
    (16) Matters concerning required labeling or required accompanying warranties for goods (or services), or exaggerated claims contained on product packaging, should be referred to the Consumer Protection Commission for forwarding to the relevant agencies responsible for consumer dispute resolution for handling. 
    (17) Other matters decided through coordination between the Commission and another administrative agency shall first be handled by the other agency. 
    (18) In addition to those set forth in the preceding subparagraphs, the following criteria shall be observed in determining whether a matter should be handled by another agency: 
    1. Special laws take precedence over general laws. 
    2. Strict laws take precedence over lenient laws. 
    The following principles shall be observed when determining "effect on trading order or public interest" as referred to in these Principles: 
    (1) Number of victims. 
    (2)Whether a practice is a prevalent phenomenon in the given industry. 
    (3) Reprehensibility in terms of commercial ethics. 
    (4) Degree of impairment to effective competition. 
Chapter 3  Categorization of Unlawful Conduct 
    Under any of the following circumstances, a representation or symbol is "false or misleading" for purposes of Article 21 of the Law: 
    (1) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume the enterprise in question is the (sole) agent, (sole) distributor, branch, maintenance center, or service station of another enterprise, or so forth, and so has certain qualifications, credibility, or other qualities sufficient to persuade trading counterparts to do business with it. 
    (2) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume that a government agency or non-profit (philanthropic) organization is a sponsor or co-sponsor [of an enterprise] or that it is related to a government agency or non-profit (philanthropic) organization. 
    (3) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume that a name of another enterprise or brand name of a good has changed. 
    (4) A representation or symbol exaggerates the scale of business operations or the time of founding or duration of existence of an enterprise or brand of goods (services), where the discrepancy is excessive. 
    (5) A representation or symbol falsely claims technology (cooperation) of, or licensing by, another person. 
    (6) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume [an enterprise] has been awarded a certain prize, to enhance the status of its goods (or services). 
    (7) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume [an enterprise] has patent or trademark licensing or other intellectual property rights. 
    (8) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume [an enterprise] is the sole vendor of specific goods (or services). 
    (9) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume [an enterprise's] goods (or services) are covered by liability insurance. 
    (10) A representation or symbol of list price differs for an extended period from actual selling price, where the discrepancy is excessive. 
    (11) Price is labeled long-term as "discounted," or a similar pretence, where the price is actually the original price. 
    (12) Minimum prices are represented, where there are no, or too few, goods (or services) available at the minimum price, and where such circumstance would be unacceptable to people in general. 
    (13) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume that the goods (or services) claimed can be obtained upon payment of a certain price. 
    (14) A representation or symbol contains specific numbers inconsistent with actual numbers, where the degree of discrepancy exceeds that acceptable to trading counterparts in general. 
    (15) A representation or symbol claims to provide service items or grades inconsistent with those actually provided, where the degree of discrepancy exceeds that acceptable to trading counterparts in general.
    (16) A representation or symbol claims [wrongfully] goods (or services) of a certain quality, where the degree of discrepancy exceeds that acceptable to trading counterparts in general.
    (17) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume goods (or services) have been awarded certification or approval by a government agency. 
    (18) A representation or symbol cites content of an official document, causing people to wrongly assume the quality of the goods (or services). 
    (19) A representation or symbol causes people to mistake the identity of the actual presenter or author of publications or persons involved in the work of preparing them. 
    (20) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume goods fulfill specific functions, where the degree of discrepancy exceeds that acceptable to a typical trading counterpart. 
    (21) A representation or symbol fails to clearly indicate conditions, burdens, expiry, or other restrictions that actually apply. 
    (22) A representation or symbol describes collectively goods (or services) having different qualifications, natures, or qualities, causing people to wrongly assume that the goods (or services) mentioned all possess the same qualifications, natures, or qualities. 
    (23) Labeling/indications representing or symbolizing a place (country) of origin of a product cause people to wrongly assume it was produced or manufactured in such place (country) of origin; provided, this shall not apply where the name of the place of origin is already in general use as a description of [such] products. 
    (24) A representation or symbol by an enterprise engaged in the marketing of investment products or services causes people to wrongly assume its franchisees or distributors earn high incomes. 
    (25) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume the viewership rating of a program. 
    (26) A representation or symbol of a rate of interest/yield is inconsistent with rates of interest/yield in actual transactions, where the degree of discrepancy exceeds that acceptable to a typical trading counterpart. 
    (27) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly identify the producer or supplier of the goods (or services). 
    (28) A representation or symbol causes people to wrongly assume that the government will hold examinations for specific credentials or public offices or certification tests for specific professions. 
    (29) A representation or symbol is inconsistent with reality with respect to the content of the special deal offered in a gift (or prize) promotion activity, the participation rules (number of participants, duration, quantities, methods), or the prize drawing date; or fails to clearly indicate attached conditions, burdens, or other restrictions. 
    Under any of the following circumstances, a representation or symbol concerning real property is "false or misleading" for purposes of Article 21 of the Law:

    (1) Industrial residences:
    (i) An advertisement fails to indicate that a construction site is confined to use as an "industrial zone" or "Type D Construction Land." 

    (ii) An advertisement indicates that that a construction site is confined to use as an "industrial zone" or "Type D Construction Land," but such annotation is obviously deficient relative to other explanatory portions of the advertisement. 
    (iii) An advertisement fails to expressly indicate that a building is for industrial-related use. 
    (iv) An advertisement uses ordinary residential accessories in an illustration, or a textual description suggests that the building is suitable for residential use. 
    (v) An advertisement's claims concerning the use of a building differ from the building or usage permit. 

    (2) Public housing advertisements:
    (i) An advertisement presents housing for sale under the name of "public housing" without having obtained the permission of the competent authorities.
    (ii) An advertisement by a construction enterprise encourages investment in construction of public housing, causing people to wrongly assume that a government agency is a sponsor or co-sponsor.
    (iii) An advertisement leads people to wrongly assume that people can get preferential loans for public housing without restrictions on purchaser eligibility.
    (iv) Only a portion of a building(s) has been approved for construction as public housing, but an advertisement causes people to wrongly assume that the entire building(s) is public housing.
    (v) A construction enterprise makes an advertisement for public housing in the form of a "public announcement," and the advertisement conceals the advertiser, or the content published in a "public announcement" is insufficient to identify the transaction principal or is sufficient to cause people to wrongly assume that public housing is being directly built and sold by a government agency. 

    (3) Building location: The building location in an advertisement is inconsistent with reality, and the discrepancy is of a degree unacceptable to the general public. 

    (4) Building area:
    (i) The advertised aggregate building or land area of a building is inconsistent with the area recorded on the certificate of title
    (ii) The advertised aggregate building or land area of a building is consistent with the area recorded on the certificate of title, but the following circumstances are present:
    (a) A construction enterprise uses in an advertisement non-statutory language such as "usable area," "common area" "indoor area," "beneficiary area," "public facilities," "beneficiary certificate," or so forth, in a representation or symbol of the area of a building, and fails in the advertisement to conspicuously annotate in a commensurate font the scope encompassed thereby, leading people to misapprehend the area size.
    (b) A construction firm uses statutory language (e.g. "building area," "base area," "main building area," "ancillary building area," "area of common-use portions") in a representation of a building area, but the area size represented is inconsistent with the rightful area under such statutory language or with the registered area, and the discrepancy would be unacceptable to the general consumer public.
    (iii) A representation in an advertisement of a specific numeric proportion of commonly owned or common-use facilities of a building(s) that is inconsistent with that of the completed building as built. 

    (5) Appearance, design, layout, building environment (commonly owned or common-use portions of a building with divided ownership rights, e.g. strolling paths, wading pools, gyms, gardens, swimming pools, pavilions, and so forth):
    (i) The appearance, design, or layout of a building are inconsistent with an advertisement/poster.
    (ii) The appearance, design, or layout of a building are consistent with an advertisement/poster, but are inconsistent with the construction layout plan or the as-built drawings, and the units responsible for construction administration have determined it to be an illegal structure.
    (iii) Facilities depicted are not among the deliverables or accompanying deliverables but are likely to be mistaken as such. 

    (6) Building materials and equipment: Representations or symbols in an advertisement with respect to the building materials of a building are inconsistent with reality, and the discrepancy would be unacceptable to the general consumer public. 

    (7) Building advertisements inconsistent with commonly owned public facilities and transportation:
    (i) Representations of an advertisement with respect to publicly owned common facilities (e.g. schools, parks, schools, athletic fields, government agencies, and so forth) are inconsistent with objective conditions at the time of use of the advertisement or actual conditions after completion of construction, and the discrepancy would be unacceptable to the general consumer public.
    (ii) A representation or symbol of unfinished publicly owned common facilities or transportation roads in a sales advertisement for a building(s) causes people to wrongly assume they are already completed.
    (iii) Representations in an advertisement with respect to traffic conditions or travel times or distances are not calculated on the basis of road conditions available in actual use. 

    (8) Labeling of real estate brokerage franchises: fails to conspicuously annotate the wording "Franchise" on advertisements, billboards, or business cards, causing people to wrongly believe it is a directly operated outlet of the brokerage. 

    (9) A [representation or symbol] causes people to wrongly assume that a building permit has been obtained. 

    (10) An ossuary advertisement causes people to wrongly assume permission has been obtained for its use, development, or so forth. 

    (11) A representation of building use in an advertisement is inconsistent with the use stated on the building license (or use license), where the use may not be changed under urban planning or construction administration laws or regulations. 

    (12) Duplex:
    An apartment represented in an advertisement is a loft space, and a representation is made in text, photographs (illustrations), reference designs illustrations, floor plans, sectional elevation diagrams, or housing models, that a duplex level is inserted or more usage area is available than in the original building design, and any of the following circumstances exists:
    (i) The advertised floor plan is inconsistent with the construction plans or as-built drawings.
    (ii) The advertisement fails to clearly indicate restrictions on the construction of inserted duplex levels under building laws and regulations (restrictions on levels, area, materials, floor area ratios¡Kand so forth).
    (iii) It has been confirmed as an illegal structure by construction administration agencies. 

    (13) A building's view or landscape are inconsistent with advertising representations, and the discrepancy would be unacceptable to the general consumer public. 

    (14) Parking spaces:
    An advertisement is inconsistent with the construction (or as-built) drawings, and the spaces have been determined to be illegal by the competent authority for construction. The same applies even if parking spaces subsequently actually delivered by the construction firm are consistent with the advertisement. 

  1. Violation of a provision of the Law by a comparative advertisement of an enterprise shall be handled under the Commission's "Synoptic List of Comparative Advertising in Violation of the Fair Trade Law." 
  2. If ordering an enterprise that has violated paragraph 1 or paragraph 3 of Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law to publish a corrective advertisement can prevent, eliminate, or remedy the harm caused by its conduct, the case should be handled in accordance with the Principles for the Handling of Cases in Which the Fair Trade Commission Orders Publication of Corrective Advertisements. 
  3. In addition to the circumstances enumerated in Points 20 through 22, any other representation or symbol by an enterprise that conforms to the criteria of a false or misleading representation or symbol sufficient to affect reasonable judgment-making and trading decisions under Points 7 to 8 is also false or misleading for purposes of Article 21 of the Law.
Chapter 4  Supplementary Provisions 
  1. When handling cases under Article 21 of the Law, the responsible department shall specifically cite provisions of these Principles when submitting their proposals to the Commissioners' Meeting, except in matters on which these Principles are silent. Where a proposal submitted for the handling of a specific case is inconsistent with the provisions of these Principles, the case shall be handled in accordance with these Principles, unless a proposal is submitted to the Commissioners' Meeting to amend these Principles.