Panayam kay DTI Consumer Protection Group Asec. Amanda Nograles tungkol sa pagpigil sa ilegal na pagtitinda sa—at paggamit ng—vape products ng kabataan
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00:00The local government and DTI are joining forces to stop the illegal sale and use of vape products
00:08of young people. We will discuss this with Atty. Amanda Nobrales, Assistant Secretary of the Consumer Protection Group of DTI.
00:17Asic Nobrales, good afternoon.
00:21Hello, good afternoon, Ninia. How are you?
00:25Good, and thank you very much for your introduction.
00:28Before we talk about your strategic enforcement efforts against vape products,
00:34do you have any details about the vape-related death incident reported by the Department of Health?
00:41And how was it confirmed that the lung injury was vape-related and that it was caused by a patient?
00:48Yes. Ninia, what we got from the media, the reports in the newspaper, according to the reports that we read,
00:59there was a case study conducted by PGH doctors on a sick child.
01:05They said that because of the use of vape, they said that this child has no history of drug use,
01:14or drinking alcohol, or use of illegal drugs. In fact, they also said that the child was never infected by COVID-19.
01:23Then, because of the two years of daily use of vape, there was a fatal heart attack following a severe lung injury.
01:36They attributed or said that the reason was the daily use of vape.
01:42According to the reports that we read, there were two arteries in the victim's lungs and there was a consolidation in the lung of the child.
01:54They said that because the child is healthy, he has no vices, he doesn't smoke,
02:01that was the only daily use of vape within two years.
02:07That's why they said that the victim's death was caused by the use of vape.
02:16All right. As a commander, good afternoon.
02:18Because of that incident, how did DTI take care of the illegal vape products that are being sold in the black market?
02:29How is the regulation of this? We have a law here, right?
02:33Yes. We at DTI, our enforcement continues.
02:38That means, our arrest in physical stores and online stores, our online monitors continue to check the vape products that are being sold online.
02:52You mentioned our law, RA-11900.
02:57A few days ago, the Department of Administrative Order was issued by DTI to enforce the technical regulations.
03:05So now, aside from our arrest in the market and selling to minors, we will also arrest, beginning September 2024,
03:18the vape products that did not pass DTI for registration.
03:22So now, the manufacturers and importers of vape should start registering because after September,
03:33the vape products that do not have ICC application or PS license cannot enter the market.
03:44Then, we have time until September 2024 for the vape products that have entered the market,
03:51the old inventories, they should be removed because when September 2024 comes,
03:58all of them should have either PS mark or ICC sticker.
04:04Sec. Grales, how is your cooperation with the local government unit on this issue?
04:11Yes. First of all, because we are moving away from vaping at a young age, we have webinars and advocacy with ULAP regarding vape awareness,
04:26what is prohibited and what should be taken care of when it comes to vaping.
04:32We are also exploring a memorandum of agreement with the DepEd because we are looking at how we can educate the youth on the dangers of vaping.
04:45We also have a partnership with the DILG and LGUs to have joint enforcement efforts.
04:53It means that DTI will not be the only one to catch illegal vapes, but we are also working with the DILG and LGUs.
05:07We also have DTI regional offices. We have activated them and they are also alert to catch those who do not follow the RA 11900 and our laws on vaping.
05:23Okay. Atty., from your Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau, how is the participation of advocacy groups here to stop minors from using vape products?
05:36Yes. The advocacy groups are free to approach us at DTI to have a partnership or partnership so that we can have awareness and education campaigns
05:49to spread the dangers of vaping for minors. It is prohibited and we are helping them to spread awareness that minors should not be exposed to vape.
06:06Some of the advocacy groups that we have talked to are Health Justice, Social Watch Philippines, Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development,
06:18Child Rights Network, and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Those are the ones that we are talking to for our advocacy on vaping.
06:28Asek, we have already mentioned the law and regulation. For our countrymen, what is the penalty or punishment for those who illegally sell unregulated products?
06:43Do vape users also have a penalty?
06:47Yes. For selling, under the law, the first offense is P100,000 and there is a possible imprisonment depending on filing a case in the prosecutor's office.
07:02But the first offense is P100,000 and the second offense, the administrative penalty is higher and higher.
07:09There is a possible imprisonment depending on filing a case in the prosecutor's office.
07:17Okay.
07:19Okay. So ma'am, because of the incident where a kid was raped because of vaping, is there a study on how we can restrict the use of vape products along with other vices like alcohol and cigarettes, especially for kids?
07:34Yes. In terms of the studies and our surveys, we are continuously monitoring how many illegal vapes are on the market that we are arresting.
07:48But on how we will restrict, the efforts of DTI are ongoing. We started with the registration that we will arrest by September 2024, we will do that.
08:03We also have a consultation with online shops on how we can fix it.
08:10Because now, if we go to an online shop, even if they are not there, they are taking down the post.
08:15Later on, they will release their post again.
08:19So the effort in the sense of how we can remove the post that is being taken down and will be released again.
08:29We are consulting with online selling platforms on how we can solve this problem.
08:37But we're still open to other solutions on our end, especially now that many illegal vapes are being sold online.
08:48So ma'am, in your consultation with DOH, do you have data on how many percent of vape users are young people?
08:56We don't have it currently because it's prohibited.
09:02So we are arresting the storefront, the retail that sells to young people.
09:09How is that? Those who have a lanyard or marketing directed to the youth, we are arresting them.
09:17But the actual users of the youth, we need to study that and project it so we can have a number of users that we need to eliminate.
09:30The problem is, Ms. Queng, yes, it's true that you don't have the data because it's prohibited.
09:36But according to experts, there are more young people who are vaping because it's enticing, it has flavor, it has bubblegum flavor,
09:47and it looks cool. It's not like the old-fashioned cigarettes.
09:53So my question is, how can we prevent it from being enticing to young people because it has flavors?
10:01Is it prohibited to have flavors like bubblegum, grape, strawberry?
10:08Yes. The flavor descriptors directed to the youth, that's actually not allowed.
10:14It's very clear in our law. So that's what we are arresting.
10:18In stores, if we see that it's strawberry-flavored, candy-flavored, or gummy bear-flavored,
10:27we are already removing it from the market.
10:31But we need to know how many end-users, those who are really enticing to the youth,
10:38that it's prohibited, we need to project that so we can get the number.
10:43Asek, let's go back to the regulation partner.
10:47Because we know that the traditional IOC has a Surgeon General warning.
10:52Every package has an ill-effect warning on our health.
10:57Now, we have a lot of studies on this vape that also has ill-effects.
11:02So, in the regulatory part of the government, did you also study to put a Surgeon General warning?
11:12Hello?
11:13Hello, Asek?
11:14Yes. Yes. Go ahead.
11:17There, Asek. I'll repeat the question.
11:19Traffic health warning. We have it.
11:21So, it's required for vape products, especially the device itself.
11:27It's not required to have a traffic health warning.
11:30But the consumables that have nicotine, that we are prohibiting,
11:35there is a traffic health warning that comes from the DOH itself.
11:39Okay. Asek, for our countrymen, where can we report violators and distributors
11:47or those who sell vape products to minors?
11:52Yes. So, just email us at consumercare.dti.gov.ph
11:58or call our Consumer Care Hotline.
12:01That is 1-DTI-1384.
12:04Okay. Just send a message to our consumers.
12:11Asek, Magrales.
12:14Yes. For our consumers, just a reminder from DTI that vaping is strictly prohibited for minors.
12:26We should not expose them.
12:28We should show them that they should be given advertising when it comes to vaping.
12:34For the stores, make sure that their products,
12:40We already have a PS mark or ICC sticker when September 2024 arrives.
12:45Okay. Thank you very much for your time, Atty. Amanda Nograles,
12:49the Assistant Secretary of the Consumer Protection Group of the Department of Trade and Industry.