The New E-cigarette Law in The Philippines Will Take Effect in June. Three E-cigarette Companies Have Applied For Registration

The new e-cigarette law in the Philippines will take effect in June. Three e-cigarette companies have applied for registration

The Deputy Minister of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of the Philippines said that e-cigarette companies need to apply for registration as soon as possible, and non-compliant products will not be sold after the market is cleaned up. The Philippine Bureau of Revenue (BIR) will also stamp e-cigarette products from next week to prevent smuggling.

According to ABS-CBN on May 28, Amanda Nograles, Deputy Minister of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said that the new e-cigarette regulations will take effect in June and all e-cigarette products must be registered with the agency.

DTI Deputy Minister Amanda Nograles said at a forum in Makati City that the import and manufacture of atomized nicotine and non-nicotine products and new tobacco products must now go through the DTI certification process, which means that these products must first obtain the Philippine Standard (PS) logo and the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) label before they can be sold on the market.

The deputy minister said that at least three companies have applied for registration, and he urged other companies to start the registration process because registration may take some time. She stressed that there will be a six-month transition period for all companies to comply with the regulations.

"We will allow them to sell all existing stocks until January 5, 2025, after which we will conduct a market cleanup and any vape products without PS licenses and ICC labels will not be allowed to appear in the market."

The undersecretary said they will also continue to monitor stores and check whether vapes contain cannabis oil to ensure that minors are not allowed to buy vape products.

In addition, the Philippine Bureau of Revenue (BIR) will also begin stamping tax stamps on vape products next week to ensure that unregulated vape products are not available nationwide.

Venus Gaticales, director of the BIR field operations department, said that "the stamping of vape products will not only benefit the BIR, but also the vape industry or business." The BIR said that tax losses are increasing due to the increase in smuggled cigarettes, and the national tax losses in 2023 exceeded 25 billion pesos (US$400 million), and this number will increase this year and next year.

Separately, BIR Director Romeo Lumagui Jr. also urged the public to report any incidents of smuggling to the authorities.