Duterte bans vaping in public and manufacture, sale of unregistered e-cigarettes

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a ban on the manufacture, distribution, marketing and sale of unregistered e-cigarette products and its use in public places.

Duterte signed Executive Order 106 last Feb. 26, months after he verbally banned the public use and importation of e-cigarettes.

In his EO, the President required all e-liquids, solutions or refills forming components of Electronic Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS/ENNDS) or heated tobacco products (HTPs) to register with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

All devices forming components of ENDS/ENNDS or HTPs should also be subject to the product standards imposed by the Department of Trade and Industry and the FDA.

“Other novel tobacco products shall be regulated in accordance with RA NO. 9211 and other relevant issuances, and are subject to the jurisdiction of the Inter-Agency Committee-Tobacco (IAC-T), established under the said law,” the EO stated.

The FDA will issue within 30 days from the effectivity of the EO a set of rules, regulations, and standards governing the registration of vape products and their components, and the issuance of License to Operate to all establishments engaged in the manufacture, sale, distribution, and importation of said products.

The EO likewise banned vaping in enclosed public places and public conveyances, expanding Duterte’s EO 26 which prohibits smoking in public places nationwide. 

Under the EO, the use, sale or purchase of cigarettes or other tobacco products by a minor, or of ENDS/ENNDS, HTPs, or their components by a person below 21 years old is prohibited.

The sale or distribution of these products is also banned within 100 meters from any school, public playground, youth hostels, recreational facilities for minors and other areas frequented by minors.

Establishments are also mandated to identify a designated smoking/vaping area.

In November last year, Duterte verbally banned the public use and importation of e-cigarettes.

“Vaping is also dangerous, I am banning it. If you are smoking now, you will be arrested,” Duterte said.

“I will order law enactment to arrest anybody vaping in public,” he added.

“I hope everybody is listening. You know why? Because it is toxic and the government has the power to issue measures to protect public health and public interest.”

GSG