Yumei Store

Case:

Key Words:

false or misleading representations in advertising, false eyelashes

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Decision of December 22, 2010 (the 998th Commissioners' Meeting), Disposition Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 099148

Industry:

Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses (4871)

Relevant Laws:

Article 21(1) of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. The FTC received written complaints that many shops that sold false eyelashes labeled their false eyelashes as made in Taiwan while they were perfectly aware that the products they were selling were in fact made in Mainland China, Vietnam or other parts of Southeast Asia and this was causing confusion for consumers. To understand whether the advertisements for false eyelashes involved dishonest labeling of place of origin, thus misleading consumers and jeopardizing consumers' interests and trading order, the FTC checked the advertisements on the Internet and also sent personnel to various sales outlets for inspection. The findings showed that on the website of"Yumei Store" , the place of origin of BM F-5 False Eyelashes (hereinafter referred to as the Products) was labeled as Taiwan. This label was false and untrue.
2. Findings of the FTC after investigation:
   The FTC found out that the Products came from two sources – Meidi Enterprises Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Meidi Co.) either imported semi-finished products and packaging them in Taiwan or imported finished products from Korea. Meidi Co. expressed that the company had sent technicians with raw materials to Myanmar to train the local workers to make false eyelashes and then shipped the semi-finished products back to Taiwan and packed them into packages designated by Yumei Store, the buyer. According to the Jing-Shang-Zi No. 09802382480 Letter dated December 29, 2009 from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the regulation in Article 9 of the Commodity Labeling Act was interpreted as"the place of origin of products that are only packed by domestic agents without substantive transformation may not be changed." Based on this interpretation from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Meidi Co. could not label the Products it sold to Yumei Store as"Made in Taiwan" because it was inconsistent with the fact. For the same reason, Yumei Store could not label the Products imported from overseas as"Made in Taiwan" either.
3. Grounds for disposition: Yumei Store advertised its BM F-5 False Eyelashes online as"Made in Taiwan", which was inconsistent with the fact that they had been imported from Myanmar and other places. It was a false, untrue and misleading representation with regard to the place of origin of product in violation of Article 21 (1) of the Fair Trade Law. The FTC therefore imposed on Yumei Store an administrative fine of NT$50,000.

Appendix:
Yumei Store's Uniform Invoice Number: 67873307

Summarized by: Lu, Shih-Ting; Supervised by: Chi, Hsuen-Li