The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) are exploring ways to strengthen their partnership with major online shopping platforms Lazada, Tiktok and Shopee to eradicate the sale of illegal e-cigarette products in the country.
The Department of Trade and Industry said it was stepping up its crackdown on illegal products and ensuring violators are held accountable by equipping its monitoring and enforcement teams with the tools necessary to remove them from the domestic market.
“Violated individuals are becoming more and more cunning, infiltrating the market with illegal e-cigarette products. By collaborating with other government agencies and the private sector, we can combat their proliferation through a country-wide effort,” Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual said in a statement.
During the meeting between the two agencies and representatives of online shopping platforms, new trends in illegal drug trafficking were discussed, highlighting the adulteration of various products, including vape liquids, with addictive substances such as psilocybin and cannabis.
The PDEA representative noted the importance of updating the memorandum of understanding with e-commerce platforms to address current challenges.
Representatives from Lazada, Shopee and TikTok expressed their determination to work with the DTI and PDEA to combat the sale of illegal substances on their platforms.
To address the growing threat of illegal substances online, PDEA proposed to update and renew contracts with online platforms to strengthen the detection and removal of illegal products.
Both PDEA and DTI are working with various law enforcement agencies, including the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to strengthen enforcement of e-cigarette regulations, building on DTI’s existing efforts, and are actively exploring further collaboration and joint activities.
The DTI recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the NBI to leverage its investigative and technical expertise to strengthen consumer protection.
