Tag: Philipinnes

Philip Morris Fortune: Vape Law Paves Way for Future

Credit: Alexander Ovsyannikov
The enactment of a new vape law in the Philippines last year has paved the way for products that provide smokers with better alternatives to cigarettes, according to Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Co. (PMFTC) President Denis Gorkun.
In addition to moving regulation of vapes from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration to the Department of Trade and Industry, Republic Act 11900 lowered the purchase age for e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products from 21 to 18, removed a two-flavor limit on product flavors and allows companies to conduct corporate social responsibility-related activities.
In an interview with the Manila Bulletin, Gorkin said PMFCT would soon launch IQOS Luma, which uses induction technology to heat tobacco, and ZYN nicotine pouches in the Philippines. Made by Swedish Match, which was acquired by PMFTC’s parent company, Philip Morris International in 2022, ZYN is the best-selling nicotine pouch in the United States today.
Since PMFTC launched IQOS in the Philippines, around 75,000 local smokers had switched away from cigarettes, according to Gorkun.
Gorkun said PMI aims to eliminate cigarette consumption in line with its vision to deliver a smoke-free future. “We will continue to work towards our smoke-free future vision with products that are found by numerous international health authorities to be far better compared to continuing to smoke cigarettes.”
He said the passage of the landmark Vape Law a year ago is a “win” for public health. While providing smokers with less harmful options, the law also contains provisions to deter underage consumption, according to its proponents.
One of the authors of the vape law, former Representative Sharon Garin, said Republic Act 11900 provides that vaping isn’t made appealing to minors. “We don’t want non-smokers to pick up the habit of vaporized or electronic cigarettes,” she was quoted as saying. “What we want is a less harmful alternative for current smokers.”
August 24, 2023
Manila Rolls Out Red Carpet for Heated Tobacco Makers

Photo: PMI
The Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is urging tobacco companies to manufacture their heated tobacco products in the country, citing surging domestic demand and export opportunities, according to the Philippine News Agency.
During the International Tobacco Agriculture Summit in Taguig City on Aug. 2, DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said while local demand for cigarettes is expected to decline from 49.61 billion sticks in 2022 to 39.06 billion sticks in 2027, sales of HTPs are poised to increase significantly during that period.
He cited a Euromonitor predicting HTP retail sales of HTPs to surge by 511 percent to 4.06 billion sticks in 2027.
Rodolfo said HTP producers would benefit the Philippines’ free trade agreements with regional markets. “HTPs, if manufactured in the Philippines, can be imported in ASEAN (except Vietnam), Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong at zero percent tariff duty,” he was quoted as saying.
In 2022, the top destinations for Philippine tobacco products included South Korea at $102.2 million, Thailand ($98.29 million) and Myanmar at $49.4 million.
According to Rodolfo, Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco aims to build a PHP9-billion factory in Tanauan, Batangas, for the production of IQOS devices.
August 3, 2023
Filipino Vapors Appeal to Duterte to Sign Vape Bill
Several consumer and harm reduction advocacy groups claiming to represent 16 million Filipino smokers and 1 million vapers, praised the country’s Congress for the passage of the Vaporized Nicotine Products Bill, and appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to sign the bill into law.
Credit: Rawpixel
Vapers PH, Vaper Ako, Smoke Free Conversation PH, Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines, Philippine E-cigarette Industry Association, Quit For Good, Heated Equipment as Alternative to Traditional Smoking Philippines, PROVAPE, Philippine Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates Inc. and Consumer Choice Philippines, stated in a letter to the Duterte that, “with the growing positive scientific evidence coupled with our life-changing experiences, our resolve is stronger that vaping saves lives.”
“We earnestly hope you would consider our humble plea Mr. President and sign the Vape Bill into law,” the groups wrote, according to the Manilla Standard.
The Vape Bill bans the sale to and use by minors of vape products, and the sale, advertising and promotion of vape products within 100 meters of school perimeter and playground. Use of flavor descriptors that unduly appeal to minors in vape products and the display of vape products immediately next to products of particular interest to minors are prohibited. Persons who violate the provisions will be penalized with a fine or imprisonment.
Congress is expected to hold a bicameral conference committee this month to unify the Senate and the House of Representatives’ versions of the bill. The version approved by the committee will be sent to the president for his approval and signature.
January 3, 2022
Philippine Dept. of Education Supports Vapor Rules
Credit: GEO TV
The Department of Education (DepEd) in the Philippines has expressed its support towards stricter measures on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS), according to a statement penned by the agency’s leader.
“On matters related to substance use prevention, education alone is not enough. In their classes, we teach our learners how to reject harmful substances. Outside these classes, we need policies and structures that will help reinforce our learners’ health-promoting choices, complementing what we teach them in school,” Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones wrote in her support statement. The letter was released during a public hearing on the provisions of the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Act, according to press note.
The Senate hearing explored regulations on age restriction, online trade, product flavors, among other items. Currently, vaping products and heated tobacco products (HTPs) are already regulated under Republic Act 11467 (RA 11467), signed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in January 2020. Under RA 11467, selling vapor products and HTPs to persons below 21 years old is prohibited. However, the pending bills in the Senate, similar to the substitute bill at the House of Representatives, intend to reduce the minimum age of restriction to 18.
“This a real concern for us in DepEd. Before the pandemic, the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) has coordinated with us to explore the determinants of e-cigarette use among [Grades 7 to 9] learners [and results showed] that 6.7 percent [of 11,500 learners surveyed] have tried and are using e-cigarettes,” Briones said.
The PPS survey results showed that the top reasons for using vape among DepEd learners are online accessibility (32%), varied flavors (22%), and the belief that e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco (17%).
“Especially now that we are in a pandemic, I appeal to our legislators to approach the issue from a health perspective. We are all first-hand witnesses of how any threat or attack to a country’s health system eventually affects every other sector of public life, from economics to education,” Briones noted in her statement.
April 4, 2021
Philippine House Committees Endorse Vapor Rules
In the Philippines, three committees of the House of Representatives have endorsed to the plenary the approval of a measure that will regulate all vapor products, whether they contain nicotine or not. The rule will also apply to heated tobacco products (HTPs).
House Committees on Trade and Industry, on Health and on Appropriations has submitted Committee Report 873 for the proposed Non-Combustible Nicotine Delivery Systems Regulation Act (House Bill 9007), according to politics.com.ph. The rule applies to electronic nicotine- and non-nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS/ENNDS).
The measure provides that the allowable minimum wage to purchase, sale and use ENDS/ENNDS or HTPs shall be 18 years old, although there is debate to raise that age to 21 or even 25. The seller would also be required to verify the age of the buyer by requiring any valid government-issued identification card bearing the picture, age or date of birth.
“It shall not be a defense for the person selling or distributing that oneself did not know or was not aware of the real age of the purchaser. Neither shall it be a defense that oneself did not know nor had any reason to believe that the product was for the consumption of a person below 18 years old,” the committee report read.
The use of ENDS/ENNDs or HTPs will be banned in all enclosed public places except in designated vaping areas if passed, and the use of product will be prohibited in schools, hospitals, government offices and facilities intended particularly for minors. The bill prohibits the sale or distribution of ENDS/ENNDS or HTPs within 100 meters from a school, playground or other facility frequented by minors.
It also prohibits manufacturers of ENDS/ENNDS or HTPs from sponsoring any sport, concert, cultural or art event, as well as individual and team athletes or performers where such sponsorship shall require or involve the advertisement or promotion of the products.
Violators of the proposed law will be fined P500,000 for the first offense and P750,000 for the second offense. On the third offense, a fine of P1 million and/or imprisonment of not more than six years. The business permit and licenses of the company will also be revoked or cancelled.
If the offender is a foreign national, they will be deported only after serving their sentence.
March 19, 2021
Consumer’s Wants Charges Against Philippines FDA

Credit: Ye Jinghan
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) continues to face backlash from stakeholders who are now threatening to file corruption charges before the Ombudsman following the regulatory agency’s admission of receiving funds from foreign vested interest groups.
The FDA conducted virtual public consultations on the general guidelines for e- cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs) on October 6 and 8, 2020, where a ranking FDA official admitted that the agency received grants from The Union and Bloomberg Initiative after questioning from Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing who noted the potential conflict of interest, according to the Inquirer.net.
The public consultation described by some stakeholders as “moro-moro” was suspended upon the request of Deputy House Speaker Deogracias Victor Savellano who also moved to conduct a full-blown House of Representatives investigation on the FDA.
Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines (NCUP) president Anton Israel said: “If the FDA ignores the views of legitimate and impacted stakeholders and proceeds with the adoption of an administrative order lifted from the playbook of their anti-tobacco patrons, we would be constrained to file an anti-graft case with the Ombudsman.”
Philippine representative to the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) Clarisse Virgino said they were “shocked and aghast by the admission of the FDA that they received money from the Union and Bloomberg Initiative. These groups are known advocates of prohibition for all forms of tobacco products including better alternatives to cigarettes like e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.”
Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association president Joey Dulay said during the last FDA public hearing that, “We are saddened to hear that the proposed FDA Guidelines on the regulation of vapor products was based on the recommendations of only the public health NGOs, we (vapers and industry) are the ones most affected with these guidelines and should be heard and considered also.”
“Upon questioning by Congress representatives present in the hearing, it came out that the FDA has been receiving financial grants of Bloomberg, basing guidelines on medical NGO’s who are known anti-vapor groups, shows partiality. We would like to humbly request the FDA for more fair and impartial conduct of the drafting of the guidelines. That is all we ask, so we may work things together hand in hand please,” Dulay added.
Virgino reminded the FDA that the solicitation or acceptance of gifts is prohibited under Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, especially if it involves a piece of regulation: Section 7 of RA 6713 prohibits public officials and employees from soliciting or aaccepting, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office. It is clear that funds received from anti-vaping groups would jeopardize FDA’s treatment of tobacco harm reduction products such as e-cigarettes and HTPs,” she said.
FDA’s acceptance of the grant is a clear case of conflict of interest driven solely by financial considerations, according to Israel. “We know this government is uncompromising with corruption and President Duterte will not tolerate this abuse of authority,” he said.
Virgino said the FDA as a regulatory agency should be an independent body free from the influence of any foreign or local institution that tries to push their own interests.
“It is supposed to safeguard public health, and not become a subordinate to moneyed foreign groups,” she said.
October 23, 2020
Philippine Bill Aims to Regulate Next-Generation Products
The trade and industry committee of the Philippine House of Representatives has
approved a bill that aims to regulate the manufacture, sale and distribution of electronic
nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS) and electronic nonnicotine-delivery systems (ENNDS).
Panel chairman Wes Gatchalian said the approval would pave the way for the regulation
of the reported rampant proliferation of ENDS, ENNDS and heated-tobacco products
that have been sold even to minors. “We would like to emphasize that this bill will serve
to regulate, and not ban, the sale of these products,” he said, noting that lawfully
registered vape shops have suffered unfair competition from an estimated 800
unregistered stores.
Under the proposed legislation, ENDS and ENNDS would be regulated by the Department of Trade and Industry. The bill sets a minimum purchase age of 18 and restricts flavors. It also mandates child-resistant and tamper-resistant e-liquid receptacles. The sale or distribution of ENDS/ENNDS and heated-tobacco products would be prohibited within 100 meters from schools and other locations
frequented by minors.
September 5, 2020
Philip Morris International Opens IQOS Stores in Manila

Photo: Alpar Benedek | Dreamstime.com
Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Co. (PMFTC) is opening its first four IQOS stores in Manila, reports The Manilla Standard.
While the heat-not-burn product has been available in the Philippines through several retail outlets since April, the opening of the stores marks a significant step towards achieving the company’s vision of a smoke-free future, according to PMFTC President Denis Gorkun.
“PMFTC’s vision is to help adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke to move away from cigarettes as quickly as possible and switch to a better alternative,” Gorkun said.
PMFTC parent company Philip Morris International has invested more than $7 billion in research, development and production capabilities to create smoke-free products such as IQOS, which are now available in several countries.
In July, the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) authorized the marketing of IQOS and heat sticks in the U.S. with a reduced exposure claim adding that such issuance is appropriate for the promotion of public health.
Gorkun said the FDA decision shows that IQOS is a fundamentally different tobacco product compared to cigarettes and a better choice for adults who would otherwise continue smoking.
About 60 percent of Filipino adult smokers are willing to try smoke-free alternatives provided they are made commercially available and meet quality production standards, according to a study commissioned by PMFTC.
PMFTC said IQOS is aimed at adult smokers. The company is implementing age verification and access restriction to ensure that only legal age consumers 21 years old and above will have access to the stores, the e-commerce website and the IQOS products.
September 4, 2020