Special Law to Regulate Multilevel Sale in Taiwan Penalty Raised

In order to curb ill-natured pyramid selling scheme, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is scheduled to enact special law that regulates multilevel sale enterprises by the end of 2004 and submit such law to the Executive Yuan for deliberation. The Chairman of FTC, Hwang, Tzong-Leh (黃宗樂) states that penalty to be imposed on the violator will be raised from the maximum 3 years to 7 years, and the current fine ceiling in the amount of NT$25,000,000 is likely to rise as well.

FTC indicates that the number of multilevel sale enterprises and their entire turnover development are increasingly flourishing, and multilevel sale moves toward greater internationalization. Up to the end of 1992, there had been 226 multilevel sale enterprises reporting to FTC, and such a number has increased to 753 enterprises by the end of March in 2004; moreover, the overall turnover of multilevel sale enterprises in 1992 amounts to 23 billions, and 43.2 billions in last year. According to statistics released by World Federation of Direct Selling Association (WFDSA), the overall turnover of multilevel sale industry in Taiwan generally ranks 10^th in the world. (2003.04)

CYJ/CCS