DTI confirms: Some vape marketing strategies target youth

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Friday confirmed that some vape manufacturers target the youth as prospective customers, which is why they are engaging with various government and non-government agencies to ensure that industry players — large or small — are properly monitored, and are duly certified and registered.

The confirmation came following the country’s first reported death due to vape-related lung injury.

“Marketing and selling vape products to minors is expressly prohibited under the Vape Law. However, there remains strong evidence that the vape industry players are making use of marketing strategies aimed towards the youth — who remain to be the more impressionable segments of the population,” Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said.

The Department of Health (DoH) said the first fatality was a 22-year-old Filipino male due to a heart attack following a severe lung injury, which is linked to his daily vape usage for two years.

DoH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo stressed that e-cigarettes and vaping elevated the risk of acute myocardial infarction and stroke.

Further, Pascual said the DTI has intensified its strategic enforcement efforts to ensure that no illicit vape products are allowed entry into the Philippine market.

Under its mandate under Republic Act 11900 or the Vape Law and aligned with the government’s efforts to ensure consumer protection, DTI Secretary Fred Pascual emphasized the need to prevent the youth from gaining access to these vape products.

Fair Trade Group Supervising Head and Assistant Secretary Agaton Teodoro Uvero reiterated the DTI’s commitment to ensuring that manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers of vape products are fully compliant with the Vape Law.

To help prevent minors from accessing vape products, the DTI, through its Fair-Trade Enforcement Bureau, has engaged several advocacy groups such as Health Justice Philippines, Social Watch Philippines, Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development, Child Rights Network, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids through dialogues on innovative strategies to address the problem of youth vaping and potentially strengthen the existing implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

The Vape Law designates the DTI with principal jurisdiction over the regulation of vapes and other novel tobacco products and assigns complementary roles to the Department of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and local government units.

From February 2023 to May 2024, out of the 89,046 physical and online firms monitored by the DTI-FTEB, 526 Show Cause Orders and 284 Notices of Violation have been issued.

In 2024 alone, vape products totaling P32,755,717 in value have been confiscated for being found in violation of the Vape Law, as implemented by Department Administrative Order 22-16 Series of 2022.