EcoWaste Coalition Hits Online Promo Sales of Adulterated Cosmetics with Toxic Mercury

The use of digital platforms to sell FDA-flagged mercury cosmetics persists despite the full enforcement of the Internet Transactions Act.

18 July 2025, Quezon City. The use of e-commerce and social media platforms to sell dangerous skin lightening products with high mercury content has not ceased despite the full enforcement of Republic Act No. 11967, or the Internet Transactions Act.

The toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition made this critical observation after monitoring sales promotion or promo sales in various platforms to lure consumers aspiring for a lighter skin tone to buy dangerous contraband products.

Among the items being peddled with special offers and discounts are unauthorized skin lightening products laden with mercury that were illegally imported from Thailand and from Pakistan, and subsequently flagged by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Dealers of smuggled Goree products, for example, have launched “flash sales” or “super sales” with very attractive incentives such as “buy 5 and get 1 free,” “45 percent off,” “from P200 to 150 na lang,” and “save big on bundles.”

To protect consumer health, the FDA flagged in 2021 the Thailand-made 88 Total White Underarm Cream, while the Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene and Goree Day & Night Beauty Cream were flagged in 2017 and Goree Gold 24K Beauty Cream in 2023.

While the government has warned that “digital platforms can also be held solidarily liable with sellers for violations if they fail to act on illicit activities on their sites,” unscrupulous wholesalers and retailers of the FDA-flagged mercury cosmetics continue to use Lazada, Shopee, Facebook, TikTok and other sites to sell these hazardous products, the EcoWaste Coalition observed.

The group had earlier welcomed the full implementation of RA 11967 enacted in 2023 following an 18-month transition period that ended last June 20.

“Now that the transition period is over, we expect all digital platforms, e-retailers, online merchants and other concerned parties to abide by the requirements of RA 11967, including the faithful observance of the ‘E-Commerce Code of Conduct’ to protect the consumer interest,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.

"Our laws cannot be static and stagnant, and must always move with the changing times," according to Atty. Grip Bueta, Legal Counsel of EcoWaste Coalition. "As the digital e-commerce space continues to grow and as more sellers and consumers transact online, efforts to protect the people's right to a clean and healthy environment - through ensuring safe, non-toxic, and non-hazardous products - must also be enhanced in the internet of things. RA 11967's full effectivity is thus a welcome development," he added.

Despite the enforcement gaps and challenges, the EcoWaste Coalition remains hopeful that the online marketplace will soon be safe from health- and environmentally-damaging products with the creation of the E-Commerce Bureau (ECB) under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which is tasked to implement, monitor and ensure compliance with RA 11967.

“We are pinning our hopes on the effective and efficient performance of the ECB and other regulatory and law enforcement agencies, backed by an enlightened and empowered citizenry, to finally put a stop to the unrestrained use of e-commerce and social media platforms in the unlawful and unethical advertising, promotion and sale of dangerous products such as those containing banned hazardous substances," the group said.

The EcoWaste Coalition has been monitoring and tracking dangerous products being traded online such as skin lightening products containing mercury, paints and similar surface coatings laden with lead, and other consumer and household products not compliant to regulatory standards.

References:

https://www.dti.gov.ph/news/dti-begins-full-enforcement-e-commerce-law-liability-rules/
https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2023/ra_11967_2023.html
https://dtiwebfiles.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/Laws+and+Policies/eCommerce/DTI+BSP+NPC+DA+DOH+DICT+SIGNED_IRR+OF+THE+ITA_4.pdf