Mask toilet paper ... What are the measures for resale? New virus March 5 19:00
Due to the spread of the new coronavirus, masks and disinfectants are sold at extremely high prices on the Internet. In addition, when the wrong information that toilet paper etc. is insufficient is walking by one person and sold out at stores in various places, expensive exhibitions such as online mail order and applications that can do business between individuals became a hot topic. Was. It has been pointed out that mass purchase for resale has been pointed out as increasing shortage. It has been pointed out that there are also malicious resale. The government has called for a resale or unnecessary urgent hoarding, but expensive listings have not gone away. We interviewed if there were any countermeasures.
Internet resale is a surprising price
A boxed mask with a list price of about 2,500 yen costs about 100,000 yen for 5 boxes.
Toilet paper costs 7000 yen for 12 bags.
In addition, a mask costs 10 yen per box, but the shipping fee is 8000 yen.
All of these products were sold on major online shopping sites. Of course, we don't know if they were bought for resale, but it has been pointed out that some of them are malicious.
The response of the government and the operating company
The government has responded variously to such online resale.
◎ February 5 = The Consumer Affairs Agency requests the operating company to take measures to prevent exhibition for resale purposes. ◎ February 28 = The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will exhibit masks and disinfectants for the time being from March 14th. Ask Internet auction operators to refrain from self-restraint
In addition, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is calling on drugstores and other industry groups to take measures to prevent purchases for resale.
In addition, the management company responds by restricting dealings with malicious cases and reviewing guidelines on listing prohibition.
However, it is the current situation that expensive exhibitions are not endless.
What laws are involved?
For those who need it now, it may be confusing how quickly the government's "request" is effective.
Are there any other measures? In fact, there are laws to protect goods that are indispensable to life from buying up or selling away.
▼ One is the "Law Concerning Emergency Measures against Buying and Selling Life-related Goods". This is the so-called “Buy-out Prevention Law”.
▼ The other is the "Emergency Measures for National Stability".
Both were enforced in 1973 following the first oil shock.
Legendary treasure sword "Law of Prevention of Purchase"
First of all, the "Billing-out Prevention Law", when the price of daily necessities may rise abnormally, the government will investigate prices and supply, etc. It is a law that you can order to sell. Violation will result in imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to one million yen.
Can this law be applied?
According to the Consumer Affairs Agency, which has jurisdiction over the law, it is a prerequisite that prices rise so much across the market as the oil shock.
And whether the price is soaring is determined comprehensively by the ministries and agencies in charge of daily necessities with reference to various indicators, but generally the `` Consumer Price Index '' announced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is It is said that it is referring.
This "consumer price index" shows the price movement of goods and services consumed at home.
Looking at the index with 2015 as 100, for example, "dust paper", which became scarce at the time of the first oil shock, was "84.4" in 1973, but rose to "136.8" in the following year, You can see that it was soaring.
I also checked the index of recent masks. Mask data is not disclosed nationwide, so looking at the data for the 23 wards of Tokyo, the figures for September 23 were "108.2" last September, "102.6" for January, and "107.5" for preliminary figures for February. There is no significant change.
At a Cabinet meeting on February 21, a statement was received stating that "at this stage, we do not consider masks to be designated as materials requiring special investigation."
By the way, this law has not been applied for more than 40 years.
What is the National Life Stability Emergency Measures Act?
Then, what about the "Emergency Measures for National Stability"?
The law stipulates, for example, that the state will adjust the prices and supply of daily necessities in the event that prices rise.
For example, the government can instruct companies to determine the quantity and price of supplies and sell them when there is a shortage of supplies and this could affect the lives of residents and the local economy.
In fact, one measure has already been taken by this law. It is a measure announced by the government on March 1 to deliver masks to local governments in Hokkaido.
The government asked the manufacturer to sell the mask and delivered it to the required local government.
This is the first time a sale has been made under this law.
Unable to cope with the Internet society
So can this law crack down on malicious high-value resale?
After confirming with the Consumer Affairs Agency on March 5, it was answered that the government as a whole is carefully studying whether it can be applied to resale at present.
The point is how to catch market trends. It is necessary to confirm the fact that the price of the entire market is soaring, but it is said that the current situation where the price of the mask is soaring has not been confirmed.
Because when this law was enacted, electronic commerce such as online shopping was not expected.
In addition, it seems that prices on the net such as masks are hardly reflected in the "consumer price index".
Even more difficult is the problem of high resale because there are many transactions between individuals through flea market apps and auction sites.
The focus is on whether this law can cover transactions between individuals.
What to do then?
Fukui Kensaku, a lawyer familiar with the Internet, points out that governments and companies should work together to address these laws.
Attorney Fukui argued that the application of laws and regulations that restrict free economic activity should be cautious, and that if serious consequences do not improve, they cannot rely solely on the self-regulation of the operating company. is.
In Europe, the concept of "joint regulation" seems to be advancing. Specifically, the government requests industry groups to make their own specific guidelines, and the government will crack down if the guidelines are deviated.
He also says that collaboration between industries is necessary. This means that normal stores and online mail-order companies can share information on supply and prices, and quickly grasp the movement of purchases and resale of large amounts, so that they can quickly transmit information and take countermeasures. .
It is important to both prevent the spread of the new coronavirus and protect our lives. It is also important to protect the freedom of economic activity. In front of the new enemy, the new coronavirus, a new mechanism is needed to protect consumers in order to protect the order of life and society.