Marcos orders crackdown on tobacco, vape smuggling

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has directed the customs and internal revenue bureaus to enhance their efforts against the smuggling of tobacco and vape products, during a meeting that tackled measures aimed at protecting the Philippines’ tobacco industry.

“Enforcement and anti-smuggling and all that – you really have to beef them up, and I think we’re doing that,” Marcos said during the sixth Private Sector Advisory Council-Agriculture Sector Group meeting at Malacañang last Wednesday.

“There will be (more effort) with the Bureau of Customs and BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) so that we can improve performance with that regard,” he added.

Special Assistant to the President on Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go said the trade department’s consumer protection group has assured him that a “significant” number of personnel would be tasked to monitor the vape industry.

BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. told Marcos that the tax bureau has strengthened its crackdown on the smuggling of vape products and is set to implement a tax stamp system to determine which of them are illicit.

In a recent memorandum circular, the BIR said the internal revenue stamps would be required for all manufactured vape products in the market by June 1 to ensure that the right amount of taxes are paid.

Last November, Lumagui said as much as P60 billion in taxes was lost in 2023 because of the illicit tobacco trade, which he said provides an unfair advantage that leads to the decline of the tobacco business.