FDA cracks down on unapproved online products

The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that it is strengthening its efforts to enforce online regulations against products that do not have the agency's approval.

In a televised briefing, FDA Director General Samuel Zacate said the FDA has a monitoring team tasked to regulate and monitor such products online.

"Sinasabihan po namin ang mga online shoppers to take it down, lalong-lalo na kapag walang rehistro ang produkto o nag-a-advertise po doon (We tell online shoppers to take it down, especially when a product is not registered or they are advertising it)," Zacate said.

"Most of them naman po, talagan naman pong tina-take down nila. Actually po, to be honest with you, makulit talaga yang mga yan, even report it then afterwards, they will take it down, gagawa sila ng bagong account, tapos babalik na naman ulit sila (Most of them, they really take it down. Actually, to be honest with you, those people are really stubborn, when we report it, they will take it down, then they will create a new account, and they will come back again)," he added.

Zacate said they are also coordinating with the National Bureau of Investigation-Cyber Security Division and then Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

"Last year nga po, I launched the Oplan Katharos, ang layunin po niyan ay to monitor po unregistered products and counterfeit products sa market and as of now, we are operating for those counterfeit drug and unregistered product (Last year, I launched Oplan Katharos, the purpose of that is to monitor unregistered products and counterfeit products in the martket and as of now, we are operating for those counterfeit drugs and unregistered products)," Zacate said.

"So, magkaiba pong aspeto kasi iyan eh, iyong unregistered and counterfeit at iyong isa po, iyong fake advertisement. When we say counterfeit, ibig sabihin peke, it’s either mali iyong sa container o iyong content nila mas mababa; when you say unregistered, totally po iyon, hindi talaga nagrehistro sa amin iyan (So, those are different aspects, the unregistered and counterfeit products and the one with fake advertisement. When we say counterfeit, that means fake, it's either the container is wrong or their content is lower; when you say unregistered, that's totally not registered with us)," he added.

He also reminded the public that using the FDA logo for marketing is also prohibited.

"Wala po kaming binibigay na moratorium or memorandum circular that they can use the FDA logo. So, if you can see sa mga online post, lalo na sa mga nagma-market, that they are using the FDA logo, we do not allow it (Actually, we have not given a moratorium or memorandum circular that they can use the FDA logo. So, if you can see in online posts, especially those who are marketing using the FDA logo, we do not allow it)," he added.