Uncertified Vape Products to be Seized in the Philippines

Uncertified products will be seized from September 8

According to the regulations of relevant Philippine government agencies, retailers, distributors, wholesalers and traders of vape products in the Philippines can sell the remaining stocks of uncertified vape products before September 7, 2024, that is, after September 8, only certified legal vapes will be allowed to be sold in the market in the Philippines.

Leah Ann Arella, director of the Standards and Compliance Division of the Bureau of Standards (DTI-BPS) of the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines, said in a radio interview: “This is the prescribed period so that they can register the remaining stocks. After this period, after September 8, the products that have not obtained vape product certification in the market will be seized.”

Arella said that the period from now to September 7 allows vape retailers, distributors, wholesalers, and traders to register their products.

Other relevant personnel from the Bureau of Standards of the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines explained: “The vape products that are deemed qualified are those with the PS license mark or those with the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) label.”

“BPS-certified products have the certification mark, and PS licenses have the PS mark… Each manufacturer has a unique license number. As for the ICC of importers, we certify each batch of goods, so no matter where their goods arrive, we will take samples for testing, and if they pass, we will issue an ICC label for each product.” Arella added.

Only products with legal PS mark or ICC label can be sold

The EO also states that after this period, only vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products, their devices, and new tobacco products with legal PS mark or ICC labels can be sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the local market. The market clearance process for unregistered or uncertified vape products was initially scheduled for January 2025.

Earlier this month, the Department of Trade and Industry reported that it had seized 25.87 million pesos worth of illegal vape products in the first five months of 2024 alone. This exceeded the agency’s illegal vape seizures in the entire 2023, which was only 5.45 million pesos. Most of the confiscated vape products violated Republic Act (RA) No. 11900, the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, which illegally sells illegal vapes that attract minors.

The mandatory registration of vape products in the Philippines took effect on June 5, 2024. Nograles said this means that vape products that have not gone through the DTI registration process will not be allowed to enter the Philippine market.

Nograles stressed that either through a PS license from its factory of the origin or obtaining an ICC label for each importation are the two legal ways to enter the Philippine vape market.