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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Trade & Industry devider P32.76-M worth of illegal vapes seized - DTI

P32.76-M worth of illegal vapes seized - DTI

Published Jun 14, 2024 08:10 am

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said that around P32.76 million worth of illegal vape products have been seized for violating the Vape Law so far in 2024. 

The agency previously reported last June 3 that more than P25.87 million worth of vape products were confiscated in the first five months of 2024. 

From February 2023  to May 2024, 526 show cause orders (SCOs) and 284 notices of violation (NOV) have also been issued, as the DTI continues to monitor 89,046  physical and online vape stores. 

In a statement on June 14, DTI Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual stressed that marketing and selling vape products to minors is prohibited under the Vape Law. 

“However, there remains strong evidence that the vape industry players are making use of marketing strategies aimed towards the youth—who remain to be the more impressionable segments of the population,” said Pascual. 

According to Section 12 of the Vape Law, vape sellers are prohibited from advertising vape products using means that would appeal to persons under the age of 18. This includes banning flavor descriptors that use a  “reference to a fruit, candy brand, dessert, or cartoon character."

Fair Trade Group (FTG) Supervising Head and Assistant Secretary Agaton Teodoro Uvero said the agency is  “consistently engaging with various government and non-government agencies to ensure that industry players—large or small—are properly monitored, are duly certified and registered, and that they follow the Vape Law and its accompanying implementing rules and regulations.” 

To intensify its efforts to monitor the sale an circulation of illegal vape products, the DTI said it is reaching out to non-government organizations (NGOs), especially following the first confirmed vaping-related death in the country. 

The Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB) has tapped the Health Justice Philippines, Social Watch Philippines, Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD), Child Rights Network (CRN), and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) to coordinate programs that will help address youth vaping. 

Last May 31, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed that a 22 year-old man died from an E-cigarette or Vaping Use-associated Lung Injury (EVALI), which has raised the alarm on the critical effects of vaping on the youth. 

 

 

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