DTI eyeing to accredit up to 10 vape firms by year-end

MANDATORY CERTIFICATION The Department of Trade and Industry reminds vape firms to register before they can sell products to the public. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) hopes to accredit as many as 10 vape firms before the end of the year, expressing optimism that the number of compliant firms will reach this level just months after the mandatory regulation.

“Hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll have nine to 10 companies that have already registered and complied with the DTI,” Trade Secretary Cristina Roque told reporters during a recent roundtable discussion in Makati.

“The only thing we want from them is for them to comply and to register with us just to make sure that the standards are being met for these vape products,” she added.

READ: DTI revising regulations for vape products

Earlier this month, the DTI released the names of 10 vape brands that were authorized to sell their products in the local market.

These are Don Bars, KLIQ, One Bar, Phantom Vape, Relx, Tomoro, Truez, Vagend and X-Vape.

Regulation of these products is provided for under Republic Act No. 1190 or the Vape Act, which lapsed into law in July 2022, while its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) were released in December of the same year.

Certification

As stipulated under the IRR, the mandatory certification and registration of vape products took effect on June 5.

About two weeks ago, DTI Consumer Policy and Advocacy Bureau Assistant Director Perpetua Werlina Lim said they were revising the technical regulations for vape products.

She said that changes are to be expected on the auditing process for companies selling these consumer goods.

Violations among vape sellers had led the government to confiscate at least P32.76 million worth of products from January to May, based on records from the DTI.

The DTI’s office for the special mandate on vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products, their devices and novel tobacco products encourages the public to report retailers who are violating the law by selling unregulated products.