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Tag: Philippines

  • Philippines Halts Online Vapes Trade

    Philippines Halts Online Vapes Trade

    Photo: Ranta Images

    The Philippine government has halted the sale, advertising and distribution of vape products online, reports the Inquirer.

    “This is a temporary suspension until the e-marketplaces are able to convince us of their compliance with their obligations under Republic Act No. 11900, or the vape law, and other laws and related issuances,” said Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual on July 19.

    According to Pascual, the order was prompted primarily by the need to prevent the sale of vape products to minors and ensure that those being sold online meet the safety standards set by law.

    Vape companies and online sales platforms must submit a sworn certification of their compliance with the law to be allowed to resume sales.

    A recent investigation by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of 90,000 companies engaged in the vape business revealed that 284 had violated various laws, by selling vapes within 100 meters of a school or by using flavors designed to appeal to minors, for example.

    The DTI has confiscated at least PHP32.76 million ($561,454.25) worth of vape products so far this year, mostly for being offered for sale without proper certifications, like the Philippine Standard mark and the Import Commodity Clearance sticker.

    In June, the department ordered the mandatory certification of vape products in compliance with the Vape Act, which lapsed into law in July 2022.

    While supporting the DTI in its efforts to protect consumers and prevent youth access to vaping products, the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) said an outright suspension of online sales would not solve the problem.

    Instead, the organization argued for greater enforcement of existing laws.

    “While the intention behind the suspension is commendable, CAPHRA believes that a more effective approach would be to enhance enforcement measures rather than imposing outright bans that could inadvertently drive consumers back to more harmful combustible tobacco products,” said CAPHRA representative Clarisse Virgino.

  • Disappointing Quit Rates in Philippine Program

    Disappointing Quit Rates in Philippine Program

    Image: Teppi

    Only one-fifth of individuals enrolled in the Philippine government’s cessation program in 2023 were able to fully quit smoking or vaping, reports the Inquirer, citing a doctor from the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP).

    Of the 144 participants in 2023, only 29 successfully quit, according to Jessica Catalan-Legarda, a doctor in the LCP’s pulmonology department,

    Those who did not continue with the program voluntarily dropped out, to which the LCP responded with contact tracing and follow-up calls.

    “These voluntary quitters usually go back to smoking and vaping, and based on studies, it takes around seven to eight attempts to successfully quit smoking or vaping,” Catalan-Legarda was quoted as saying.

    Successful quitters tended to be between 22 and 44 years of age and have a comparatively high educational background, according to Catalan-Legarda.

  • Philippines: New Vape Rules in June

    Philippines: New Vape Rules in June

    Credit: Adobe Photo

    The new Vape Law in the Philippines will take effect on June 1. The new rules also apply to all next-generation tobacco products, including heat-not-burn and e-cigarettes. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will require all vape products to be registered with the agency on that date, an official said on Tuesday.

    At a forum organized by the Bantay Konsumer, Kalsada, Kuryente (BK3) in Makati, DTI Undersecretary Amanda Nograles said the “importation and manufacturing of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products and novel tobacco products must now undergo the DTI certification process.”

    This means that products must have the Philippine Standard (PS) mark and Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) sticker first before they can be sold on the market.

    Nograles said at least 3 companies have already applied for registration, and they urge others to begin the process since the registration may take some time. She clarified that there will be a 6-month transition period to allow all firms to comply.

    “We will allow them to sell all the existing inventory. On January 5, 2025, we will do market clearing. There should be no vape products without a PS license and ICC [sticker],” Nograles said, adding that the agency will continue to monitor shops to ensure that no minors will be allowed to buy vape products. They will also check if the vape has marijuana oil.

  • Loans and Grants for Philippine Growers

    Loans and Grants for Philippine Growers

    Photo: PMFTC

    The Philippine National Tobacco Administration (NTA) has given growers in Pangasinan PHP21.5 million in of grants and loans for the 2023-2024 cropping season, reports the Philippine News Agency.

    About 400 tobacco farmers have taken advantage of the Curing Barn Assistance Program (CBAP), which has a budget of PHP8 million for the covered period. “Through CBAP, they buy the necessary materials to cover their harvest in case of rain or to prevent direct sunlight,” said NTA-Pangasinan branch manager Roger Madriaga.

    Madriaga said the NTA also released PHP13.5 million to 705 tobacco farmers in the form of cash and material farm inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides, under the tobacco contract growing system.

    “TCGS has three components, which are financial, technology and marketing. We subsidize the farmers depending on their needs through financial assistance and technology, while we monitor the implementation of the technology,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Madriaga said only 1 percent to 2 percent of the more than 2,000 hectares of tobacco plantation in the province have been affected by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

    The planting season cut-off date for tobacco is from October to Jan. 15, and farmers may harvest the leaves within 55 days to 60 days.

  • Congress Asked to Pass Economic Sabotage Act

    Congress Asked to Pass Economic Sabotage Act

    Photo: Mykhailo Polenok – Dreamstime.com

    Tobacco farmers in the Philippines are urging Congress to pass the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act to counter smuggling, reports The Manilla Times.

    The Philippine Tobacco Growers Association (PTGA) and the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers Association and Cooperatives on May 2 called for Congress to already convene a Bicameral Conference Committee before July.

    PTGA President Saturnino Distor emphasized the urgent necessity of passing the bill due to widespread smuggling, which not only affects the agricultural sector but also threatens local farmers and their dependents.

    The proposed legislation categorizes the smuggling of agricultural products, including tobacco, as “economic sabotage,” which carries a penalty of life imprisonment.

    Additionally, perpetrators will face fines that are triple the value of the smuggled products.

    More than 2.2 million Filipinos depend on tobacco for their livelihoods, including more than 430,000 farmers, farmworkers and their family members, according to data from the National Tobacco Administration.

    The tobacco farmers said the Philippine government loses about PHP200 billion ($3.5 billion) in revenue annually due to smuggling, with PHP30 billion attributed to smuggled cigarettes alone.

  • Momentum Grows for One-Use Vape Ban: Philippines

    Momentum Grows for One-Use Vape Ban: Philippines

    Photo: Mihail Reschetnikov

    Momentum is building in the Philippines for a proposal by Finance Secretary Ralph Recto to ban disposable e-cigarettes, reports The Philippine Star.

    The Department of Health has indicated support for the proposal, just like some senators, but the Department of Trade and Industry, which enforces the country’s vape law, has yet to take a stand.

    Eric Singson, mayor of Candon in the tobacco-producing Ilocos Sur province in Northern Luzon, said he was open to the idea. “If it is really hazardous to a person’s health, then it’s OK with me, we will subscribe to regulation, just like the Tobacco Regulation Act,” he said.

    Both the Department of Agriculture and National Tobacco Administration have yet to communicate their respective positions.

    Several countries in Europe including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Belgium have announced disposable vape bans.

    “If that is the trend, then maybe there is a very good reason for banning it. If it’s something of a health concern to the users, especially the minors, then I’m open to it,” Singson told The Philippine Star in an interview in.

    In Asia, disposable vapes are already banned in Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan.

    Recto proposed the ban in response to the rise in youth vaping and the impact of disposable products on the environment, with illicit e-cigarettes further eroding tax revenues.

  • PMI Eyes Philippines Leaf for Smoke-Free

    PMI Eyes Philippines Leaf for Smoke-Free

    Photo: Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Co.

    Philip Morris International may start using Philippine tobacco in its smoke-free products following the expansion of a factory operated by a local affiliate, reports The Philippine Star.

    “We’re also thinking about starting using the Philippine tobacco in the smoke-free products,” said PMI CEO Jacek Olczak during the inauguration of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Co.’s (PMFTC) factory in Tanauan City, Batangas.

    Olczak stated that the quality of the Philippines’ tobacco leaves is “getting better and better.”

    “They require even better quality, consistency, etc. But I believe the farmers, the tobacco growers in the Philippines can deliver on that quality,” Olczak added.

    PMFTC is a 50-50 partnership between PMI and Lucio Tan’s Fortune Tobacco Corp. The expanded factory will produce PMI’s heated-tobacco sticks under the Blends brand for its smoke-free Bonds product.

    PMFTC mixes local tobaccos with international varieties in its products.

    “You will find the Philippine tobacco in our products in every country in which we operate,” Olczak said. “So in more than 100 markets, you will find the Philippine tobaccos in the product.”

    “We’re very happy with the regulatory environment and the business environment in the Philippines, and we decided to locate this manufacturing here,” he added.

  • Flava Pulled From Philippine Shelves

    Flava Pulled From Philippine Shelves

    Flava brand vaping products have been pulled from store shelves in the Philippines amid allegations of illegal marketing to minors and tax evasion, the Department of Trade and Industry has said.

    The DTI’s Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB) on March 15 ordered Flava Corporation, Lilac’s Vape Shop, and social media influencer Lilac Sison Tayaban, CEO of Flava, to refrain from manufacturing, importing, selling, packaging and distributing imported Flava vapes, according to media reports.

    Once the Sampaloc, Manila-based business receives the preliminary order issued by DTI-FTEB, all of Flava’s commercial activities must immediately stop.

    Flava was the respondent to formal charges alleging violations of Republic Act No. 11900, or the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, filed before the DTI-FTEB on March 14.

    In turn, the DTI-FTEB gave the preliminary order to confiscate Flava products that violate RA 11900, to prevent the disposition or tampering of evidence and the continuation of the acts being complained of.

    The DTI is the lead implementing and enforcement agency of RA 11900, the landmark law aimed at protecting minors from vaping. The House Ways and Means Committee earlier estimated as much as P728 million ($1.3 million) in foregone tax revenues from the alleged technical smuggling of P1.4 billion worth of illicit Flava devices last year.

    After laboratory testing, The House panel discovered that Flava had not declared the vapes it imported from China. Flava allegedly mislabeled its ingredient as freebase nicotine, which has a lower excise tax than nicotine salt — the nicotine used in Flava products.

    Also, the House committee discovered Flava’s aggressive marketing of its flavored vapes to minors, most especially on social media—a violation of RA 11900. Last week, Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. disclosed that the taxman seized 1,029 master boxes of Flava vapes from a warehouse in San Pablo City, Laguna, with tax deficiencies totaling P75.7 million.

    The BIR raid conducted together with the Laguna provincial field unit of the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) also led to the arrest of two individuals manning the warehouse.

    As such, the BIR will file criminal tax evasion charges against Flava.

    “This successful raid of a vape warehouse containing 102,900 bottles of Flava vape products will be one of many. The BIR supports the whole of the government’s approach to eradicating illicit vape products. We have warned you as early as 2022. Our raids are successful. We won the criminal cases. You already have pending warrants of arrest. Register and pay your proper taxes, or suffer the consequences,” Lumagui said.

    Meanwhile, Consumer Protection Group spokesperson, Trade Assistant Secretary Amanda Nograles said they will check the report of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency that marijuana-laced electronic cigarettes or vapes are now proliferating in the market.

    “That report alarms us, especially when these will be sold to minors. Since the information was just new, then we will get additional information. But the DTI will continue to confiscate vape products with flavor descriptors and have cartoon characters that are appealing to minors, and products that use influencers,” Nograles said in a radio interview.

    She said if the DTI encountered or confiscated vapes with marijuana oil, then they would refer it to the PDEA.

    On Thursday PDEA operatives seized cannabis oil and ‘kush’, and assorted vaping devices, with an estimated total value of P842,000 in simultaneous raids in Taguig City.

  • Health Department Building Case for Stricter Vape Rules

    Health Department Building Case for Stricter Vape Rules

    Image: Oleksii

    The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) is gathering data on vaping prevalence in the country, reports Malaya Business Insight.

     DOH Undersecretary Eric Tayag said the information will be used to convince policymakers to strengthen laws against vaping.

    According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), e-cigarette users among the youth increased from 11.7 percent in 2015 to 24.5 percent in 2019.

    The DOH statement comes after nine former health officials called on the Philippine delegation to the 10th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to take the lead in pushing for the fight against vapes and electronic cigarettes.

    The former DOH secretaries and undersecretaries believe the Philippine delegation should speak about the serious threat to public health brought about by weak Philippine regulations on e-cigarettes and vapes.

  • Philippine Tax Reform Paid Off: Study

    Philippine Tax Reform Paid Off: Study

    Image: RODWORKS

    Repeated increases of “sin taxes” in the Philippines have not only driven down smoking prevalence, but also boosted the government’s health budget, reports The Philippine Star, citing a working paper published by the Institute for Leadership, Empowerment and Democracy.

    More than 10 years after the passage of the landmark 2012 Sin Tax Reform Law, the study found that sin tax reforms on alcohol, tobacco, e-cigarettes, vape and heated tobacco products have generated PHP1.1 trillion ($21.66 billion) in additional revenue above the 2012 baseline.

    The annual health budget increased six-fold to PHP309 billion in 2023 from PHP53 billion in 2013. Despite the higher taxes, cigarettes remain affordable, at PHP100 per pack and PHP5 per stick, according to the report.

    From 2012 to 2022, real value of tobacco production has grown by 6.6 percent. However, the researchers noted that these findings must be validated through individual-level surveys of tobacco farmers.

    Given the resilience of the tobacco business over the past decade, the author’s concluded that there is room for further tax increases.