The Department of Finance (DOF) is strongly supporting a new directive that aims to strengthen safeguards against access of minors to tobacco products online.
In a move to tighten tobacco regulation, the Inter-Agency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-Tobacco) approved a resolution mandating all online tobacco sellers, e-marketplaces and digital platforms to install or improve stricter age verification to ensure compliance with the law.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the new resolution would put a grip over the sale and distribution of tobacco products.
‘The finance department remains fully prepared to extend its support to ensure the proper regulation of these products, particularly in safeguarding the welfare of our youth,’ Recto said.
The resolution includes preventing individuals under 18 years old from viewing, accessing, purchasing or selling tobacco products through online platforms.
As a member of IAC-Tobacco, the DOF helps oversee the implementation of Republic Act 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, which governs the manufacture, distribution and sale of the said product in the country.
The finance department added that the resolution also mandates e-marketplaces and digital platforms to exercise due diligence in monitoring online merchants and to adopt necessary measures that would guarantee full compliance with existing tobacco regulations.
They are likewise required to provide the IAC-Tobacco with proof of compliance within 90 days after the resolution’s publication to ensure adherence to tobacco regulations.
‘Section 9 of RA 9211 declares it unlawful to sell and distribute tobacco products to any minor. It further states that it shall not be an excuse for the seller or distributor to be unaware of the minor’s real age,’ the DOF said.
‘Neither shall it be a defense that they had any reason to believe that the product was for the consumption of the minor to whom it was sold,’ it said.