Purpose and policy of price control
- The issuance declares that revising and publishing a new schedule of ceiling prices is necessary due to changed conditions in trade and commerce during an emergency.
- The issuance states that the public interest requires a reasonable schedule of ceiling prices to be established and fixed for articles, commodities, and services.
Coverage: ceiling pricing rules
- Section 1 makes specified essential commodities subject to a rule that they shall not be sold at more than the maximum retail prices set opposite each commodity.
- Section 2 applies to articles or commodities not specified in Section 1 whose prices have not been specifically determined.
- Section 2 defines “retail sales” as sales made to ultimate consumers.
- Sections 3 and 5 extend ceiling computation and pricing constraints to products sold by retailers and vendors both inside and outside the City of Manila and across places of manufacture and production in the Philippines.
Definitions and key pricing terms
- Section 3 defines “landed cost” as CIF valued at Manila or any other port of landing, plus specified cost items: arrastre, brokerage, handling, discharge, banking and cable charges, insurance against theft and pilferage, and delivery expenses.
Ceiling mark-ups for unspecified commodities
- Section 2 sets maximum mark-ups over landed cost for retail sales as follows:
- Foodstuffs of all kinds: 50%
- Hardware, Plumbing and Electrical Fixtures and Building materials: 70%
- Drugs, medicines and medical, dental and optical supplies and equipment: 80%
- Jewelry, watches, novelties, cosmetics, toys and other luxury articles: 100%
- Paper products, stationery and school supplies: 70%
- Newsprint and printing supplies: 60%
- Automobiles, trucks and automobile equipment: 50%
- Automobile and truck spare parts of all kind: 100%
- Office furniture, equipment and fixtures: 80%
- Shoes (new or old), ready-made clothes, thread buttons and milliners a and athletic supplies: 85%
- Other tobacco products, pipes , cigarette holders, etc: 70%
- Textiles of all kinds: 60%
- Industrial and agricultural machineries, railway equipment, parts and accessories, including elevators and sewing machines: 100%
- Soap and all toilet articles and preparations: 70%
- All other products not specifically listed: 50%
- Section 2 constrains retail pricing to “ultimate consumers” sales by treating retail sales as such.
Computing ceiling prices for imported goods
- Section 3 requires that the maximum ceiling prices for retailers of imported articles and commodities be computed using:
- landed cost of the specific commodity, plus
- a margin of profit not exceeding the applicable mark-up prescribed in Section 2.
- Section 3 specifies the cost components that constitute landed cost, including CIF value at Manila or any other port of landing and listed charges and delivery-related expenses.
Price adjustments for location and transport
- Section 5 provides that for places outside the City of Manila or outside the territorial jurisdiction of the port of landing, ceiling prices for commodities in Section 1 (and those computed under Section 3) must be increased by a reasonable amount per unit representing:
- actual transportation and handling expenses, and
- other necessary and unavoidable expenses incurred or to be incurred by the retailer in bringing the goods to the place of resale.
- Section 5 prohibits local producers from charging Manila prices above the ceiling set for the same or similar imported article:
- No locally raised, produced, or manufactured article may be sold in the City of Manila at a price exceeding the maximum fixed for the same or similar imported article.
- Section 5 sets specific local-pricing relationships with Manila ceilings:
- For products made in the “center of production or manufacture” or places where Philippine products are raised, grown, produced, or manufactured, the maximum selling price is ten per centum (10%) less than Manila’s maximum selling price for the same or similar article.
- For areas where products are not raised or produced, the maximum selling price is Manila’s maximum selling price plus ten per centum (10%), plus actual expenses for transportation, handling, and other expenses to the place where the article is sold or consumed, but the total addition for those actual expenses shall not exceed ten per centum (10%) of the maximum selling price fixed for the same or similar article.
Enforcement authority and inspections
- Section 4 assigns enforcement to the Philippine Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, acting through its agents in the Price Control Division.
- Section 4 grants power to the Price Control Division agents to examine and investigate invoices, books, records, and accounts of any importer, wholesaler, or retailer.
- Section 4 limits the purpose of examination to computing or determining ceiling prices of imported articles, commodities, or merchandise.
Price Fixing Committee and permissible adjustments
- Section 6 creates a Price Fixing Committee composed of:
- the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce as Chairman,
- the Secretary of the Interior,
- the Secretary of Health and Public Welfare, and
- two representatives of duly organized chambers of commerce in the City of Manila.
- Section 6 gives the Committee power to increase or decrease the price ceilings set in the order.
- Section 6 also gives the Committee power to provide a higher or lower mark-up for wholesalers or retailers based on changes in:
- the cost of production,
- manufacture,
- transportation, and
- other factors affecting prices.
- Section 6 requires that after any Committee adjustment, the retailer’s margin of profit must remain not less than 10% nor more than 15% over operating expenses.
Prohibited conduct and penalties
- Section 7 punishes any person who refuses to sell any article, commodity, or merchandise displayed in the store or place of business where a maximum selling price is fixed.
- Section 7 imposes punishment in accordance with Section 3 of Commonwealth Act No. 600, as amended.
Mandatory price posting and transparency
- Section 8 requires all retailers or vendors selling inside or outside public markets to post in a conspicuous place at the entrance of their stores or within the premises a list of all articles being sold with their respective retail selling prices.
- Section 8 requires retailers or vendors to place price tags within plain view of the buying public on all articles or commodities offered for sale or displayed for sale.
Repeal and supremacy over conflicting rules
- Section 9 repeals all Executive Orders and all Emergency Control Administration Orders, or any of their provisions, which are in conflict or inconsistent with Executive Order No. 91 or any of its provisions.