Philippines Senate Passes Vaping Bill

The Philippine Senate on Dec. 16 approved the proposed Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Act, reports The Philippine Inquirer.

Senate Bill 2239 transfers regulatory authority over vapor products from the Philippines Food and Drug Administration’s authority to the Department of Trade and Industry.

According to Vaping360, the move was prompted partly by outrage over news that groups supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies had funded the FDA in an effort to influence the agency to impose harsh vaping restrictions.

The legislation prohibits the sale of vapor products to people below the age of 18 and bans e-cigarette sales within 100 meters from “any point of the perimeter of” a school, playground, or other facilities frequented by minors.

The bill also prohibits celebrities or social media influencers from endorsing vapor products.

Physical and online retailers or distributors must register with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, the sponsor of the bill, said shifting to vaporized nicotine products “is a good public policy.”

“There will be less death and less expense on the part of society in treating patients. And that is the direction where many countries, more developed economies are moving toward,” Recto added.

The Philippines House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a similar bill in May. The two bills will now go to a conference committee where they will be reconciled, and both houses will vote on the final version. Then the unified bill will go to President Rodrigo Duterte to sign into law or veto.

Tobacco control groups are lobbying the president to veto the bill when it reaches his desk. A veto can be overridden with a two-thirds vote of both houses.