Complaint against Hsien-an Enterprise, Ta-wei Yang Hang, P'in-ch'en Enterprise Ltd., Hsian-chu Enterprise, and Chiu-chih-tsui Co., Ltd. for the sale of Whisky beverages bearing false labeling in violation of the first paragraph of article 21 of the Fair Trade Law.
Case:
Complaint against Hsien-an Enterprise, Ta-wei Yang Hang, P'in-ch'en Enterprise Ltd., Hsian-chu Enterprise, and Chiu-chih-tsui Co., Ltd. for the sale of Whisky beverages bearing false labeling in violation of the first paragraph of article 21 of the Fair Trade Law.
Key Words:
whisky, labeling of products, age of products, place of origin
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of May 31, 2000 (the 447th Commissioners' Meeting); Disposition (89) Kung Tzu No. 096, 097, and 098
Industry:
Tobacco and Alcohol Beverage Distribution Industry (5133)
Relevant Laws:
Article 21 and the fore part of article 41 of the Fair Trade Law
Summary:
1. The Scotch Whisky Association filed a complaint against several whisky importers (named below) for falsely representing the age and place of origin of their imported products in violation of Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law. (1) Hsien-an Enterprise Co., Ltd. (Hsien-an), importer of "Shi-gao Ti-kuo Chen-nian Wei-shi-chi Antiquity Rare Premium Whisky" and "Ke-ling-hsing-tsuan 20 chen-nien wei-shi-ji GLEN DOWER," was alleged to have falsely labeled Antiquity Rare Premium Whisky's place of origin and age and GLEN DOWER's age. (2) Hsiang-ju Enterprise Co., Ltd. (Hsiang-ju), importer of "Lung-lao-tieh Chin-shih-pa Wei-shih-chi GOLDEN CLASSIC," was alleged to have falsely labeled the product's place of origin and age. (3) P'in Chen Enterprise Co., Ltd. (P'in-che"), importer of "Huang-jia-chin-tsuan Wei-shih-chih Royal Diamond Whisky" and "Fa-kuo Chih-wei Wei-shi-chi KING WAY" was alleged to have falsely labeled the product's place of origin and age. 2. Regarding Hsien-an: (1) At the center of the front label of the "Shih-gao Ti-kuo Chen-nian Wei-shih-chi" was a line of words "Antiquity Rare Premium Whisky" [signifying the product's English name]. On top of that line were the words "EXTRA 21 OLD," with the number "21" highlighted in red. At the center of the back label of the bottle were the words "extra old BLENDED WHISKY." On top of the line are the words "EXTRA 21 OLD," the same as those words on the front; Between the two lines was the trademark - a round mark with the words "Scottish Imperial" engraved in the middle. The outer package also beared the aforesaid trademark in addition to other words- namely, "100% PREMIUM MALTSCOTCH WHISKY" and "Product of Scotland." The product's age, between 3 to 5 years, was inconsistent with number displayed on the label - namely, "EXTRA 21 OLD"-the latter being similar to an identification of age. Hsian-an argued that the number "21" did not indicate the age of the product. However, judging from the language and the number use d on the front and back of the bottle, grounds exist to believe that consumers could be easily misled into thinking the said number was the age of the product. It was also inappropriate for Hsian-an to label the product "100% PREMIUM MALT SCOTCH WHISKY" and "Product of Scotland," given that the product did not consist entirely of Scotch Whisky, and was not made or imported from Scotland. The company argued that it had removed the wording "100% PREMIUM MALT SCOTCH WHISKY," "Product of Scotland," and "EXTRA 21 OLD" from its package, and submitted the corrected package design for the Commission's reference. The Commission's agent found, however, that the product on display at Taipei City's Fan-ya Tobacco and Alcohol Beverages Company still bore the wording "EXTRA 21 OLD" and "100% PREMIUM MALT SCOTCH WHISKY" on the package, constituting sufficient proof that Hsian-an had not completely recalled its stock from the market and that this error had not been corrected. (2) On the upper portion of the front label of "Ke-ling-hsing-tsuan 20 chen-nien wei-shi-ji GLEN DOWER" was the line "GLEN DOWER FINEST BLENDED WHISKY"; at the center of the said label were the words "SPECIAL RESERVE." A obviously larger number "20" independently stood between these two lines. On the upper portion of the back label were the words "Glen Dower Finest Pure Whisky Pure Whisky Extra 20 Special Reserve." Also indicated on the label, but in Chinese, were the title of the product, "Ke-ling-hsing-tsuan 20 chen-nien wei-shi-ji," data on product licensee and manufacturer, and the alcohol concentration of the product. The number "20" also appeared in a noticeable portion of the product 's outer package. The actual age of the product in question, eight years, was also inconsistent with the number "20" indicated on the labels, the latter being similar to an identification of the product's age. The company argued the import permit from the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Board was obtained under the title , "GLEN DOWER FINEST BLENDED WHISKY 20 SPECIAL RESERVE," and that number contained in the title did not identify the age the product. However, the fact that the number was enlarged and independently displayed on the bottle and outer package could easily lead consumers to think it identified the age of the product. A false indication of the product on the bottle and package violated Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law. 3. Regarding Hsiang-ju: The front label of the product "Lung-lao-tieh Chin-shi-pa Wei-shi-chih" beared the words "PREMIUM GOLDEN CLASSIC WHISKl." A round label bearing the number "18" was wrapped around the neck of the product's bottle. The words "GOLDEN CLASSIC" and "Lung-lao-tieh Chin-shi-pa Wei-shi-chi" (in Chinese) appeared on the back label of the product. The number "18" and "Scotch Whisky" also appear on the product's outer package. The Commission found that the ingredients of the product included three-year-old Bourbon Whisky and Canadian Whisky, and four-year-old Scotch Whisky. The age of the product being around three or four years, was inconsistent with the number "18" labeled on the product's bottle and outer package. The latter number seemed suggestive of product age. The fact that the number is significantly enlarged and independently displayed on the bottle and package could easily lead consumers to think it identified the age of the product. It was also inappropriate for the company to state on its packag ing "SCOTCH WHISKY," when the product was neither 100% Scotch Whisky nor manufactured and imported from Scotland. The company argued it had redesigned the packaging and removed the numer "18" from the bottle's neck and packaging. The company further argued that, from June 1996 onwards, the imported products no longer indicate the number "18" on either the bottle's neck or the packaging. However, the claimant submitted product it had purchased on 29 March 2000 at Shang-yang Foods Co., Ltd., a retailer in Yung-ho, Taipei County. The bottle and the neck label of the product in question still contained the enlarged number "18" at a noticeable position. The words "SCOTCH WHISKY" were still found on the packaging. Although Hsiang-ju has corrected all labels on the existing stocks, the Commission deemed that it has failed to recall all products from the shelves and thus must make amends to its wrongdoing. 4. Regarding Pin-chen: "Huang-jia-chin-tsuan Wei-shi-chi ROYAL DIAMOND WHISKY" and "Fa-kuo Chih-wei Wei-shi-chi KING WAY" are manufactured by REAU. RICHARD & CIE FRANCE and E. G. E. of France. The former's bottle label contained with the number "25," while its product packaging contained words such as "FINE 25 OLD" and "SCOTLAND TASTE." Pin-chen, meanwhile, could not produce evidence proving that the two products are 25 and 18 years old respectively, yet their bottle and packaging labels contained the words "25," "FINE 25 OLD," "18" and "FINE 18 OLD," deceptively suggestively of the product age. The fact that said the number was significantly enlarged and independently displayed on the bottle and packaging could easily lead consumers to think it identified the age of the product- an action ruled to be in violation of Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law. As for the other allegation regarding false representation of place of origin, Pin-chen produced materials to prove that the two products contained Scottish Whisky, and were made by producers, REAU. RICHARD & CIE FRANCE and E. G. E. of France, which imported the Scottish Whisky from the U.K. As the product does contain "Scotch Whisky" and the aforesaid producers' names are clearly given, the Commission found it hard to deem that the product's place of origin was falsely labeled. Appendix: P'in Chen Enterprise Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 84304479 Hsien-an Enterprise Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 12157771 Hsiang-ju Enterprise Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 22391889 Summarized by Yin Shi-hsi; Supervised by Wu Ting-hung