Philippines Government Ends Illegal Online Sales

The Philippines government is set to remove 15,000 more noncompliant electronic cigarette sellers in online marketplaces, reports The Philippine Star.

“We have monitored almost 15,000 sellers online,” said Ruth Castelo, trade undersecretary. “We’ve advised platforms to remove almost 15,000 we observed that were noncompliant. These sellers all have cases already.”

Unregistered vapor products are subject to the Vape Law, which came into effect Dec. 28, 2022, and prohibits flavors, colorful caricatures on packaging and selling products within 100 meters of schools, among other restrictions.

“If online platforms would just strictly follow, there is no need to remove the sale of this product from them,” said Castelo. “It’s already indicated which products they can’t sell, but some still evade detection.”