DTI to issue guidelines for vape product certification

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to issue supplemental guidelines for the mandatory certification of vape products next month.

In a press briefing, Trade Assistant Secretary Amanda Nograles said a public consultation was conducted yesterday on the supplemental guidelines on the technical regulations for the mandatory certification of vape products.

“We will collate the comments and release (the supplemental guidelines) by next month,” Nograles said.

According to Nograles, the memorandum circular (MC) on the supplemental guidelines is being issued as the mandatory registration and certification of vape products under Republic Act 11900 or the Vape Law is set to take effect in June.

This means that manufactured or imported vape products should have the Philippine Standard (PS) mark or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) sticker by June this year.

Products with the PS mark or ICC sticker are those found by the DTI to conform with relevant Philippine National Standards on quality and safety.

Likewise, products covered by the mandatory product certification schemes should bear the PS mark or ICC sticker before being distributed in the local market.

Nograles said the MC to be issued covers supplemental guidelines as the DTI already issued guidelines on the mandatory product certification of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products through Department Administrative Order 22-06 in 2022.

As the order was issued before the Vape Law took effect, she said there is a need to align how the certification will be done.

From June this year until January 2025, she said those with existing vape products in the market would be allowed to sell their stocks.

“By January (2025), we will have the market clearing period. Products without PS mark or ICC will no longer be allowed,” she said.

Nograles said the DTI has also written a letter to the Bureau of Customs, stating that the release of shipments of vape products without a certificate of conditional release from the DTI should no longer be allowed starting February.

The certificate of conditional release allows the transport of imported products to the importer’s warehouse where it will be subject to DTI inspection to ensure these comply with the rules on the products’ descriptors and packaging.

The DTI currently has a testing laboratory in Cavite where the secondary battery, battery charger, vape device and heated tobacco product are being tested.

As the DTI does not have a facility for testing the consumables, she said the DTI is allowing certification from an accredited third party laboratory.

She said the plan is to seek budget for equipment that will allow the DTI to test even consumables in the future.

As for the proposal to ban disposable vapes, Nograles said the DTI is still studying if this should be included in the supplemental guidelines.

“If we can find a way to test it that we will have assurance on safety and quality, then no issue. But fundamentally, it’s disposable, the sampling will be difficult,” she said.