Violation of the Fair Trade Law by Chien Ling International Ltd. for its falsely asserting that tap water caused cancer.
Case:
Violation of the Fair Trade Law by Chien Ling International Ltd. for its falsely asserting that tap water caused cancer.
Key Words:
electrolysized water, tap water, cancer-causing water
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of June 22, 2000 (the 450th Commissioners' Meeting); Disposition (89) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 113
Industry:
Importing Industry (5601)
Relevant Laws:
Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
1. This case originated from the complaint by a tap water provider stating that in order to promote its electrolysis water purifiers, Chien Ling International Ltd. (Chien Ling International) had in an advertisement falsely claimed that tap water will cause cancer and had thereby severely damaged the provider's business reputation. After investigation, it is the finding of the Fair Trade Commission (the Commission) that Chien Ling International is a distributor of electrolysis water purifiers manufactured by a Japanese company. The advertisement posted by Chien Ling International in a magazine titled "Healthy Living" stating in part "tap water causes cancer! ... According to newspaper reports, Environmental Protection Agency inspections of tap water in Chinese Taipei resulted in a failure rate of 59 percent. 14 of Chinese Taipei's water purification plants did not meet Environmental Protection Agency standards." "Healthy Living" and Chien Ling International share the same business address. Neverthe less, neither Chien Ling International nor "Healthy Living" was able to provide sources for the assertion that tap water inspections resulted "in a 59 percent failure rate." 2. Chien Ling International further maintained that the "!" in the phrase "tap water causes cancer!" was a typographical error and that it corrected this error to "?" in an announcement appearing on 1 September of the same year. Chien Ling International's only support for this claim was a general statement alleging that its claim was based on newspaper reports and academic sources. It was, however, unable to provide precise references for these reports and sources. Further investigation by the Commission also discovered that Chien Ling International's claim was not in conformity with what the newspaper reports originally intended to reveal on this issue. Plainly, Chien Ling International's primary purpose was to expose this issue and its assertion pertaining thereto. Chien Ling International's typographical error argument was patently unpersuasive, and the Commission found that Chien Ling International had published false statements regarding tap water in "Healthy Living" with a view to promoting i ts electrolysis water purifiers. This was an act of providing fale information to mislead and deceive consumers capable of affecting the trading order. Accordingly, this act constitutes a violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law. The Commission therefore disposed in accordance with the fore part of Article 41 of the Law by ordering Chien Ling to cease such acts and imposing an administrative fine of NT$ 200,000. Appendix: Chien Ling International Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number:23467675 Summarized by Hang Chung Chieh; Supervised by Gso Tien Liang