E-cigarette group bats for DTI supervision

MANILA, Philippines — The e-cigarette industry wants the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to police major players, an industry group said.

In an interview, Philippine E-cigarette Industry Association (PECIA) president Joey Dulay said the industry has always been open to being regulated.

“Even from the start we were asking government to regulate us. It has to be fairly regulated. One that balances all the factors involved,” Dulay said.

Dulay said he thinks the DTI should be the proper regulator for the industry as e-cigarettes are electronic devices.

He added the DTI has always been supporting the industry.

“They don’t favor us, but they don’t attack us also. I think they see a value in giving an alternative to smokers who cant quit,” he added.

While the country’s e-cigarette industry remains unregulated, the Department of Health (DOH) under Administrative Order 2014-0008, earlier required manufacturers or distributors of vapes or e-cigarettes to apply for Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after passing quality checks before the products can be sold in the market, especially if they are being marketed as smoking cessation devices.

The FDA earlier said no manufacturer or distributor has applied for a CPR with the agency.

Dulay said the implementation of the AO has not really taken off, claiming the FDA has not released the implementing rules and regulations (IRR).

“They issued an administrative order with no guidelines so we dont have anything to follow, but the FDA would go to manufacturers and they would really require them to apply for the LTO (license to operate) and the CPR. We would like to comply, we are law abiding citizens,” Dulay said.

Dulay said manufacturers could not apply for the requirements due to the absence of guidelines.

While the industry would prefer the DTI to be its regulator, since e-cigarettes are being taxed as consumer products, Dulay said e-cigarette juices with nicotine content maybe regulated by the FDA.

“If FDA says nicotine is a drug then maybe they can regulate only the liquid (e-cigarette juice) with nicotine,” Dulay said.

He said not all e-cigarette juices are the same as some come with nicotine content while the others without, in a bid to give consumers a choice.

“What is important is the choice of smokers who can’t quit to go to an alternative. It might be able to save their lives. We don’t make health claims here,” he added.

Dulay said e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than normal cigarettes.

Moreover, Dulay added the industry is currently under the jurisdiction of the NTA particularly for imported products.

He added only e-cigarette devices are mostly imported, while e-cigarette liquid is usually made in the country.

“I think 95 percent or 98 or the e-liquid sold in the Philippines is proudly Philippine-made,“ he added.

Based on data from the NTA, the Philippines saw a 66 percent reduction in imports of e-cigarette and e-Juice in 2017 to 1,989 kilograms from 7,245 million kilograms in 2016.

As of the first eight months of the year, 1,499 kilograms has been imported, a 51 percent decline from the same period a year ago.