Gyeonggi-do's Proposal to Crack Down on 'Mask Hoarding' Accepted by Government in 12 Days

From 12th 00:00, Mask and Hand Sanitizer Sellers and Distributors Must Report Daily to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province proposed crackdowns on hoarding, including setting maximum prices for masks and hand sanitizers due to COVID-19 at the end of last month, and the government accepted this proposal within 12 days.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that, amid growing public concern over shortages of health masks and hand sanitizers caused by COVID-19, it has implemented the "Emergency Supply and Demand Adjustment Measures for Health Masks and Hand Sanitizers" from 12:00 a.m. on the 12th, pursuant to Article 6 of the Price Stabilization Act.

The current Price Stabilization Act (Article 6) stipulates that in cases of financial or economic crises or when supply and demand adjustment functions are paralyzed making supply adjustment inevitable, emergency measures regarding supply and shipment can be taken.

Under this measure, manufacturers and sellers of health masks and hand sanitizers must report daily to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the products produced and sold starting from the 12th.

The government expects that this measure will make the production, distribution, and sales process of masks and hand sanitizers transparent and eradicate abnormal distribution activities such as hoarding and illegal overseas exports.

Earlier, Gyeonggi Province proposed to the government on the 31st of last month the designation of maximum prices for health masks and emergency supply and demand adjustment measures.

In an official letter, the province stated that due to the recent spread of the novel coronavirus (currently COVID-19), cases suspected of unfair price increases for health masks have occurred, heightening public anxiety. To protect the livelihoods of ordinary citizens and stabilize the national economy, it requested the prompt implementation of maximum price designation for health masks under Article 2 of the Price Stabilization Act and emergency supply and demand adjustment measures under Article 6 of the same law.

The province cited examples of unfair price increases for masks, including ▲ forcibly canceling completed purchases and reselling at higher prices ▲ selling the same product at prices increased by more than 400% within three days ▲ hoarding large quantities for profiteering purposes.

Separately from the government proposal, under the special directive of Governor Lee Jae-myung, starting from the 31st of last month, the Gyeonggi Provincial Special Judicial Police have been conducting on-site inspections of mask sales and manufacturing companies within the province, and have begun enforcing the obligation to display mask prices at retail stores with a floor area of 33㎡ or more.

Governor Lee Jae-myung emphasized, "Exploiting fear of disease as a means of making money is the worst kind of unfair practice," and added, "We will mobilize all available means in Gyeonggi Province to take stronger measures than ever against unfair acts that hold the health of residents hostage."

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Provincial Special Judicial Police announced on the 13th that from the 31st of last month to the 12th of this month, they investigated 29 online shopping malls and identified 17 companies that sold Chinese-made masks as domestic products at inflated prices or deceived consumers by marketing masks without infection-blocking effects as effective.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.