TRADE SECRETARY Ramon M. Lopez said that the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) upcoming guidelines on e-cigarettes and vaping devices will be mainly to ensure the safety of products available on the market.
In an interview with BusinessWorld, Mr. Lopez said that the joint guidelines with the Department of Health (DoH) will consider reports of malfunctioning devices have exploded and injured users.
“I think the important part of it is the safety of the product. Kailangan natin ma-assure ang (We need to assure the) safety of the product and if it’s within standards,” he said, adding that the guidelines will be released in a month’s time after meeting with stakeholders.
Mr. Lopez told BusinessWorld earlier that the DTI will be working on the guidelines “from a standards viewpoint and certification of standards compliance.”
The joint order is part of a series of guidelines that the DoH will issue in relation to its Administrative Order (AO) 2019-0007 published in June. The AO requires all makers, sellers and distributors involved in the Electronic Nicotine and Non-nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS/ENNDS) industry to obtain a license to operate (LTO) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The AO also requires that separate memos be drafted for the labeling and packaging; registering of products; applying for LTO; and selling of flavored e-liquid of ENDS/ENNDS.
Prior to the release of the AO, there was no regulation of ENDS/ENNDS products. — Gillian M. Cortez
