This is news that will not surprise anyone! In the Philippines, the Duterte administration seems to be considering a total ban or heavy taxation of e-cigarettes. Given the significant expansion of vaping products in the country, the finance department is trying to respond with these two options.
WHAT FUTURE FOR THE E-CIGARETTE IN THE PHILIPPINES!
While a tax bill is still on the table, the finance secretary, Carlos G. Dominguez III, recently said the government is not ruling out the possibility of a total ban on the sale and use of e-cigarettes and tobacco, whether burned or heated.
Citing several "arguments," including conflicting health claims, the secretary said government regulators were ready to take the most damaging policy decision against tobacco companies.
«We need to talk to them [at the Ministry of Health] because science is involved here [and] there are many arguments"He told reporters. " To begin with, perhaps all of this should be banned. Other countries have done it, like Singapore, they have a total ban. It's an approach. »
The other option being considered is to regulate e-cigarettes through taxation, but Carlos Dominguez argued that the tax on e-cigarettes should be lower than the tax on combustible tobacco products.
« The other approach is taxation. Why tax it? Because it always affects your health. [But] then, experts say it should be taxed less, because health is less affected Said the chief financial officer.
«But you know there's another problem here, that makes you an addict. You know you really ingest nicotine, which makes you an addict ", he added.
The Secretary of Health, Francisco T. Duque III, said that the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) was in the process of developing regulations governing the sale of all vaping and heated tobacco devices. These new applicable regulations (TRI) could be presented within three to six months.
Carlos Dominguez also revealed that a company (Philip Morris) had already expressed interest in the official introduction of a heated tobacco system in the Philippines.
«There are several types of tobacco products, one uses heated tobacco and the other uses e-liquid that you vaporize. So we're trying to see where the technology is and where it's going »He declared adding« I really think that regulations and taxes will be at stake. We are in discussions »
