House panel starts tackling bills regulating vaping

AFTER President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the ban on vaping in public places, the House of Representatives has started to tackle bills regulating electronic cigarettes and other similar devices in a joint meeting of the health and trade and industry commitees.

A total of 16 bills have been filed in the 18th Congress seeking to regulate the use, sale, packaging, distribution and advertisement of vape products, electronic cigarettes, smoking devices, nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems (Ends), and heated tobacco products (HTPs).

Valenzuela City Rep. Weslie Gatchalian, chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry, said the committee “is duty-bound to hear, deliberate and recommend the approval of the House of Representatives on a policy that will be most effective to advance the interests and promote the welfare of the people.”

“The use of ENDS and HTPs is now a national concern, so much so that the President recently issued a directive banning the importation and use of Ends and HTPs in public spaces,” he said.

The Department of Health (DoH) and the Food and Drugs Authority supported the regulation of vape products, noting the negative effects to health and safety such as the chemical content and previous reports of devices that exploded.

Some advocacy groups also welcomed the regulation and opposed the complete ban of vape products.

Gatchalian said the hearing seeks to determine the best public policy on these products, which are viewed as less harmful alternatives to cigarettes or combustible tobacco products.

“The Philippines is in a very unique position to set a global standard. Every day, there are new studies being published both in favor of the complete ban and the regulation of these devices, making the market hardly an exact science. What is clear, however, is that these new technologies are here to stay. Over-zealous regulation could impede its growth but regulation that is too lax can be prone to abuse,” he added.

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that smoking combustible cigarettes remains the single greatest preventable cause of death in the world as it kills more than 8 million people every year. Around 80 percent of the 1.1 billion smokers in the world live in low- and middle-income countries like the Philippines.

The latest survey conducted by the DoH and the Philippines Statistics Authority found that of the 108 million Filipinos, some 15.9 million were smokers, representing 14.7 percent of the population. Of these smokers, 12 million or 76 percent are interested or plan to quit smoking tobacco.

Doctor Lorenzo Mata Jr. of QuitForGood said that vaping could be a less helpful alternative for 12 million or 76 percent of smokers, who are interested or are planning to quit smoking.

Philip Morris’ Arnaldo Carino also pushed for regulation. “We also want to clarify that our heated tobacco products are not harmless. They are harmful, but compared to a cigarette smoke, they present less risk of harm than continued smoking,” Carino said.

The Philippine e-Cigarette Industry Association (Pecia), meanwhile, pushed for regulation to protect businesses and consumers from unregulated vape product vendors, who compromise the industry with low quality and unchecked products proliferating in “fly-by-night” markets or unregulated online stores.

According to Pecia, there are over 879 vaping stores employing at least 2,637 individuals in the Philippines. The Philippine industry for vapor products also contributes to the export market.