Stop to vape selling on e-commerce platforms looms

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to issue a directive mandating e-commerce firms, such as Shopee and Lazada, to stop selling vape products until they have sufficient checking mechanisms to ensure that sellers are following laws on the sale of these products.

Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo, who heads the DTI’s consumer protection group, lamented that these e-commerce platforms have yet to implement age verification systems despite being told to do so.

“We had a dialogue with them where we said that they need to fix their age verification system and to make sure that the vape products being sold do not violate laws. But when was that? Up to now, they still have none of these,” Castelo said during the DTI’s Saturday morning radio program on dzBB.

“So, our recourse is to stop them from selling (vape products) until they have addressed this,” she added.

The DTI official said these e-commerce platforms include Shopee and Lazada as well as Facebook’s marketplace and the TikTok shop.

Marcus Valdez II, director at the DTI’s Consumer Policy and Advocacy Bureau, said during the same radio program that a department order will be issued to formalize this policy.

According to the DTI, they have monitored 37,808 online vape shops since the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for Republic Act No. 11900 or “The Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act” was released in December 2022.

Of these online vape shops, only 274 were found to be fully compliant.

Meanwhile, 1,649 others were found to be non-compliant but have valid addresses, while 35,885 were found to be compliant, but have not provided addresses.

As of late June, the DTI said they have seized 1,503 units of vape products from non-compliant stores, the total of which has a combined worth of P4,555,353.

Establishments and retailers found selling vape products to minors will be fined an amount of P10,000 or a thirty-days imprisonment or less upon the discretion of the court for the first offense.

Succeeding offenders will be fined the same but erring business establishments will have their business licenses or permits revoked.

Both physical and online stores are also required to register with the government to sell vape products, with violators facing a fine of P100,000 on the first offense and P200,000 on the second one.

Third time violators, on the other hand, will be fined P400,000 and their business permit will be revoked.