House hearing bares lack of government regulation on vapes

MANILA, Philippines — There is currently no existing government regulation on the manufacture, sale and use of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices, several regulators revealed during yesterday’s dialogue with the House trade and industry committee on the proposed measures that seek to regulate electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products.

Representatives of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) admitted to lawmakers that the hands of their agencies are currently tied in the absence of regulation on e-cigarettes.

FDA director Ana Trinidad Rivera lamented how their administrative order (AO) regulating the manufacture, distribution and use of liquid being used in vapes was stopped by two courts in Pasig and Manila through the issuance of preliminary injunction.

“The AO is currently not being implemented because of these court orders where issues on jurisdiction of FDA to regulate vapes and the sin tax passed by Congress were raised. The OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) already filed an MR (motion for reconsideration),” she told the House panel.

The DTI, for its part, has yet to come up with its department administrative order (DAO) to regulate vaping gadgets.

Avelino Molina, senior trade and industry development specialist, said their DAO has just been finalized and will not take effect until the first quarter of next year.

The DAO will require ENDS manufacturers to submit their products for inspection and sampling to be able to secure Philippine Safety Standards Certification and Import Commodity Clearance for imported products.

“This DAO will require manufacturers to undergo testing based on Philippine National Standards. We will regulate e-cigarettes regardless of whether or not they contain nicotine,” Molina told lawmakers.

Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon said the lack of existing regulatory policies of DTI and FDA only shows the urgency for Congress to pass a measure to regulate ENDS products. He has filed House Bill 40, which seeks to regulate use, sale and distribution of ENDS products and impose a ban on the use of e-cigarettes by minors.

“The industry is already here so we need to act swiftly on regulating it, especially with issues involving risks to health of users of e-cigarettes,” he told The STAR in an interview after the hearing.

Biazon, however, rejected the proposal of the Department of Health for a total ban on ENDS products, saying there is no conclusive study yet showing grave effects to users.

The FDA had earlier granted license to operate to some of the 150 e-cigarette manufacturers and retailers who applied for registration with the agency, but the registration process has been stopped due to the injunction orders by the courts.

It prohibited the sale and use of e-cigarettes to minors, saying they could cause acute poisoning and could also be addictive.    

The ENDS industry started to grow in the country this year following the government’s intensive crackdown on the use of cigarette and tobacco that have been medically found to cause fatal diseases.

Last August, Congress passed House Bill 1026 that increased the excise tax on vaping products. Under the measure, specific tax on vapor products with nicotine salts will increase to P30 in 2020 from the current P10 per milliliter, with an incremental P5 yearly increase to P45 by 2023.

The bill, among the priority legislative measures specified by President Duterte, aims to generate revenue for the government to fund the universal healthcare program of the government and to also reduce consumption of alcohol products. 

Once enacted, this measure is expected to generate P33.6 billion in additional revenue for the government in 2020, P42.1 billion in 2021 and P50.3 billion in 2022.