On June 8th, according to the Philippine News Agency, Fred Pascual, the Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of the Philippines, ordered the strengthening of monitoring of e-cigarette shops in the National Capital Region (NCR) to ensure compliance with sales restrictions outlined in the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act. DTI has monitored a total of 29,167 shops, including 583 physical stores and 28,584 online stores.
Minister Pascal of the Department of Trade and Industry stated:
The Department of Trade and Industry, through its Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB), will continue to enhance its monitoring of these businesses. The goal is to ensure a balance between the interests of the companies/manufacturers while protecting the youth from the harmful effects of these substances.
As of June 1st, DTI has monitored a total of 29,167 stores, including 583 physical stores and 28,584 online shops.
Out of the 583 physical stores monitored, 229 were found to be compliant while 214 were not. On the other hand, only 175 out of 28,584 online stores that underwent physical inspections were compliant, while 2,809 were found to be non-compliant. An additional 26,986 online stores are currently undergoing physical inspections.
Based on the monitoring results stated above, the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB) has issued violation notices/reasons for non-compliance to 72 businesses. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) also seized 13,784 products from non-compliant shops, with a retail value of approximately 4.25 million Philippine pesos (equivalent to around 540,000 yuan).
The vast majority of companies that have received notice letters for reasons of non-compliance are engaged in the following violations:
The fourth regulation pertains to the packaging requirements for products. The fifth regulation pertains to the sale of nicotine and non-nicotine products, as well as their equipment or new tobacco products. The sixth regulation pertains to restrictions on the dissemination, advertising, and sponsorship of products. The eighth regulation prohibits the use of vape products in public places. As of June 1st, the DTI's adjudication department has received 74 formal charges, with 73 against physical stores and 1 against an online store. The DTI is monitoring major social media and e-commerce platforms to ensure that minors cannot purchase these substances online.
The Philippines has recently intensified its crackdown on illegal e-cigarettes, targeting both brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers. This comes after the passage of the Vaporous Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act in 2022, which aims to regulate the import, manufacturing, sale, packaging, distribution, use and dissemination of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products (including e-cigarettes) and new tobacco products.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has mandated stricter supervision of vaporizer shops in the metropolitan area of Manila.
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