According to the relevant government agencies in the Philippines, retailers, distributors, wholesalers, and traders of e-cigarette products can sell their remaining inventory of uncertified e-cigarette products until September 7, 2024. This means that after September 8, only certified and legal e-cigarettes will be allowed to be sold on the market in the Philippines.
Leah Ann Arella, Director of the Standards Compliance Division of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Philippine Standards (DTI-BPS), said in a radio interview, "This is the set deadline for them to register their remaining inventory. After this period, from September 8 onwards, any products in the market without e-cigarette product certification will be seized."
Arella stated that the period from now until September 7 allows e-cigarette retailers, distributors, wholesalers, and traders to register their products.
Other relevant personnel from the DTI-BPS explained, "Certified e-cigarette products are those with the PS license mark or products with the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) label."
"Products certified by BPS bear a certification mark. The PS license has a PS mark, and each manufacturer has a unique license number. As for the ICC for importers, we certify each batch of goods. So, wherever their goods arrive, we sample and test them. If they pass, we issue the ICC label for each product," Arella added.
As we previously reported in "New Philippine E-Cigarette Regulations to Take Effect in June, with At Least 3 Companies Applying for Registration," the market clearance procedure for unregistered or uncertified e-cigarette products was originally planned for January 2025. However, according to Assistant Secretary Amanda Nograles of the DTI Consumer Protection Group, the latest determined transition period deadline is now September 7, 2024, with January 2025 no longer being the final deadline.
Earlier this month, the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry reported that illegal e-cigarette products worth PHP 25.87 million were seized in the first five months of 2024 alone. This surpasses the agency's total seizures of illegal e-cigarettes in 2023, which amounted to only PHP 5.45 million. Most of the confiscated e-cigarette products violated Republic Act No. 11900, the "Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act," by illegally selling e-cigarettes that appeal to minors.
The mandatory registration of e-cigarette products in the Philippines took effect on June 5, 2024. Nograles stated that this means e-cigarette products that have not undergone the registration process with the DTI will not be allowed into the Philippine market.
Nograles emphasized that there are two ways for e-cigarettes to legally enter the Philippine market: either through the PS license from their country of origin or by obtaining the ICC label for each import batch.
