School supply makers urged to keep prices low
By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio
The Philippine Star Business Column
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) yesterday called on manufacturers of school supplies to keep prices reasonable for the coming school year.
“DTI is set to meet with the manufacturers, importers and retailers of school supplies to assure quality, reasonable price and sufficient supply of school materials for the coming school year. It will look into the prices of raw materials such as paper to assess the prevailing retail prices of notebook, school pads and other school materials,” Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said.
“The start of summer school break prompts the Department to prepare for the upcoming peak sale season of school supplies in order to avert unfair trade practices jacking up prices with the surge in demand of said goods and proliferation of substandard and unsafe school supplies,” he added.
For her part, Consumer Welfare Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said the DTI will also step up its monitoring activities for school supplies not only to check on the prices but also to ensure compliance of manufacturers and importers with specific quality standards and labeling requirements.
There are existing Philippine National Standards (PNS) for school supplies and paper products such as crayons, pencils, erasers, ball point pens, marker pens, notebook, pad papers, etc., that specify the classification, physical and chemical properties, performance and labeling of a product.
For instance, crayons should be classified as regular or jumbo, should not easily break or bend on certain pressure and temperature, and should be labeled as “non-toxic” to signify that its chemical contents meet the allowed toxicity level of the standard.
Product labels are important to guide consumers in choosing affordable, safe and reliable school supplies that is worth their money. Required markings include name and address of manufacturer, trade or brand name, type or size, country of manufacture, quantity, toxicity warning and instruction for use. Other specific markings are grammage and number of leaves for notebooks and school pads, hardness symbol for lead pencils, and tip classification for ball point pens.
Non-conformance of manufacturers, importers and retailers to the standard and labeling requirements is a violation of the Republic Act 7394 or Consumer Act of the Philippines and the Standards Law. Those found not complying with the said standards shall face administrative charges, which includes a maximum fine of P300,000 per violation.
REACTION
Everything in the economy and even in this world needs balance. Yes, it is very important for the law of supply and demand, for the quantity and the price of each product and the side of the consumers in buying or purchasing a certain product, but if there is also poorness in the quality of a product then there could be no balance.
As I have also experienced of becoming a customer, I make sure to it that the item I buy has the best quality regardless of the price or shall I say how expensive it may be. For me, I do not mind the price of the product as long as it gives satisfaction in terms of its quality but if the product is very expensive and yet has poor quality then it is not worth the money.
We are aware that summer is about to end and another school year would start on June. Many consumers, most especially parents, would line up on malls and school supply stores of course to buy school supplies for the kids. In relation to the article above, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sees to it that each school supply is worth buying. Because of the market condition of the fast approaching school year, demand for school supplies would increase therefore, the supply should also be sufficient for the buyers.
The disadvantage of this is that retailers, sellers or school supplies manufacturers would take advantage with the peak season. They would probably make the prices higher than the standard price of the item so that they could have more earnings. DTI watches the manufacturers and importers not to over price their products since the consumers would also want low prices due to the peak season. In line with this, DTI also made regulations and requirements for manufacturers and consumers to assure quality products for the consumers to enjoy. These are obliged by the DTI not only to assure the consumers the quality but also the safeness of the products since majority is to be used by the children.
See how important balance is in the society? The manufacturers should not just make concerns or themselves but to the consumers above all, because without the consumers, the produces could not also have earnings. I could really say that both players are really important in the economy, that without the other, one would not survive.
