Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 Overview

Policy and purpose of regulation

Section 2 declares State policy to protect the populace from hazardous products and promote the right to health and health consciousness.
Section 2 directs balanced regulation of the use, sale, and advertisements of tobacco products to promote a healthful environment while safeguarding the interests of tobacco farmers, growers, workers, and stakeholders.
Section 3 sets the main thrust to: promote a healthful environment; inform the public of health risks from cigarette smoking and tobacco use; regulate and subsequently ban tobacco advertisements and sponsorships; regulate tobacco labeling; protect youth by prohibiting sale of tobacco products to minors; assist Filipino tobacco farmers to cultivate alternative agricultural crops; and create the Inter-Agency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-Tobacco).

Definitions and key covered terms

Section 4 defines “Advertisement” as any visual and/or audible message disseminated to the public about or on a tobacco product that promotes and gives publicity through broadcast electronic, print, or other mass media, including outdoor advertisements.
Section 4 defines “Advertising” as the business of conceptualizing, presenting, making available, and communicating to the public any message about consumer products—specifically covering messages and images promoting smoking, purchase or use of cigarette/tobacco products, and cigarette/tobacco trademarks, brand names, design, and manufacturer’s names.
Section 4 defines “Cigarette,” “Smoking,” and “Tobacco Product” to cover tobacco intended to be burned or heated under ordinary conditions of use, and tobacco products intended for smoking or oral or nasal use; it also states cigarette requirements apply to other tobacco products unless the State provides otherwise.
Section 4 defines “Minor” as any person below eighteen (18) years old.
Section 4 defines covered places as “Public Places” and covered transport modes as “Public Conveyances.”
Section 4 defines “Promotion” and “Sponsorship” to include brand promotion through events/activities and contributions made to promote tobacco brands, with additional inclusion for paid use of tobacco brand items in entertainment.
Section 4 defines “Warning” as required health notices on tobacco products and in media, including outdoor advertising.
Section 4 defines “Point-of-Sale” as any location where an individual can purchase or otherwise obtain tobacco products.

Healthful environment rules for smoking

Section 5 absolutely prohibits Smoking in: centers of youth activity for persons under eighteen (18) years old; elevators and stairwells; areas with fire hazards including gas stations and storage areas for flammable liquids, gas, explosives, or combustible materials; hospitals/medical/optical/health centers/nursing homes/dispensaries/laboratories; public conveyances and public facilities (airports/ship terminals/train/bus stations) except for separate smoking areas; and food preparation areas.
Section 6 requires that in enclosed places open to the general public, private workplaces, and other places not covered under Section 5, where smoking exposes others to tobacco smoke, the owner/proprietor/operator/possessor/manager/administrator must establish smoking and non-smoking areas.
Section 6 allows smoking areas to include a designated smoking area with proper ventilation, but forbids locating the smoking area within the same room designated as non-smoking.
Section 6 requires each designated smoking area to have at least one (1) legible and visible sign reading “SMOKING AREA” plus a warning about health effects of direct or secondhand tobacco smoke exposure.
Section 6 requires each non-smoking area to have at least one (1) legible and visible sign reading “NON-SMOKING AREA” or “NO SMOKING.”

Access restrictions: age, vending, and retail duties

Section 7 prohibits selling or distributing tobacco products to minors through vending machines, self-service facilities, or similar devices unless the vending machine has a mechanism for age verification, except at point-of-sale establishments.
Section 8 requires each retailer to remove or bring into compliance all tobacco-related self-service displays/facilities/advertising/labeling and other items located in the retailer’s establishment that do not comply with the Act.
Section 9 makes it unlawful for a retailer to sell or distribute tobacco products to a minor.
Section 9 makes it unlawful for any person to purchase cigarettes or tobacco products from a minor, for a minor to sell or buy tobacco products, and for a minor to smoke cigarettes or any other tobacco products.
Section 9 eliminates defenses based on ignorance of the minor’s real age or lack of reason to believe the products were for the minor’s consumption.
Section 10 prohibits the sale or distribution of tobacco products within one hundred (100) meters from any point of the perimeter of a school, public playground, or other facility frequented particularly by minors.
Section 11 requires point-of-sale establishments to post a clear and conspicuous statement: “SALE/DISTRIBUTION TO OR PURCHASE BY MINORS OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS IS UNLAWFUL” or “IT IS UNLAWFUL FOR TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO BE SOLD/DISTRIBUTED TO OR PURCHASED BY PERSONS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE.”
Section 12 requires retailers, in case of doubt as to age, to verify that the buyer is at least eighteen (18) years old using any valid form of photographic identification containing the bearer’s date of birth.

Tobacco packaging warnings and package markings

Section 13 requires that all packages withdrawn from manufacturing facilities of all manufacturers or imported into the Philippines intended for sale starting 1 January 2004 must carry rotating health warnings printed in English or Filipino.
Section 13 mandates the four government health warning variations: “GOVERNMENT WARNING: Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to Your Health;” “GOVERNMENT WARNING: Cigarettes are Addictive;” “GOVERNMENT WARNING: Tobacco Smoke Can Harm Your Children;” and “GOVERNMENT WARNING: Smoking Kills.”
Section 13 provides packaging placement timing: until 30 June 11006, the health warning must be on one side panel and occupy not less than fifty percent (50%) of that side panel including border/frame.
Section 13 provides packaging placement for beginning 1 July 2006: health warning must be on the bottom portion of one (1) front panel and occupy not less than thirty percent (30%) of such front panel including border/frame, and the health warning must occupy a total area of not less than fifty percent (50%) of the total warning frame.
Section 13 requires the warnings to be clearly legible in black text on a white background with a black border, and in contrast by typography, layout, or color to other printed matters.
Section 13 requires periodic rotation so that within any twenty-four (24) month period, all four warning variations appear with proportionate frequency.
Section 13 prohibits hiding or obscuring the warning by other printed information/images and forbids printing locations where tax/fiscal stamps are likely to be applied to the package and where a wrapper would likely obscure or obliterate the warning; where a wrapper may do so, the warning must be printed on both the wrapper and the package.
Section 13 requires every consumer package to contain, on one side panel, the message “NO SALE TO MINORS” or “NOT FOR SALE TO MINORS,” occupying not less than ten percent (10%) of that side panel and appearing in contrast.
Section 13 forbids other printed warnings on cigarette packages except the health warning and the minor-sale message required by this Section.

Media health warnings and advertising restrictions

Section 14 requires all tobacco advertising in mass media to contain, in English or Filipino, the warning “GOVERNMENT WARNING: Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to your Health.”
Section 14 requires print and outdoor advertising warnings to be centered across the bottom and occupy at least fifteen percent (15%) of the advertisement including border/frame, with the health warning occupying a total area of at least fifty percent (50%) and being clearly visible, legible, prominent in color, and in contrast; the warning must not be hidden or obscured.
Section 14 requires television and cinema advertisements to show and voice over the warning in the last five (5) seconds regardless of duration, even when silent; the warning must occupy at least fifty percent (50%) of the television screen and be clearly visible, legible, and audible, either black text on white or white text on black, and no other images may be included in the warning frame.
Section 14 requires radio advertisements to have the warning clearly and audibly voiced over in the last five (5) seconds regardless of duration.
Section 15 restricts tobacco advertising by prohibiting targeting or appeal to persons under eighteen (18) years old, prohibiting celebrity features or celebrity endorsements (express or implied), prohibiting cartoon characters and comically exaggerated human/animal depictions, and requiring depiction of persons above twenty-five (25) years of age only.
Section 15 prohibits tobacco advertisements from showing, portraying, or depicting scenes of actual use, puffing, or lighting cigarettes or other tobacco products presented to the public.
Section 16 forbids placing tobacco print media advertisements unless there is a reasonable basis to believe at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the publication’s readers are eighteen (18) years of age and above, and youth reading it constitutes less than ten percent (10%) of all youth in the Philippines.
Section 16 forbids placing tobacco print advertisements on packaging or outside covers (front and back) of magazines, newspapers, journals, or other publications for general circulation.
Section 17 restricts outdoor advertising by prohibiting placement on billboards/wall murals/transport stops or stations within one hundred (100) meters of school perimeters or other facilities frequented particularly by persons below eighteen (18) years old.
Section 17 caps outdoor tobacco advertising by prohibiting a total size (alone or combined with deliberate combinations of other outdoor tobacco advertising) exceeding seventy (70) square meters.
Section 17 prohibits outdoor tobacco advertising on taxis, buses, trains, or other public conveyances or in their stations/terminals/platforms, except at point-of-sale establishments.
Section 18 prohibits tobacco advertisements in connection with any film where persons below eighteen (18) years old are allowed admission.
Section 19 prohibits tobacco advertising broadcasts on television/cable television/radio between 7:00 in the morning and 7:00 in the night.
Section 20 prohibits electronic advertisements in video or audio cassette, videogame machine, optical disc, or similar medium unless restricted to persons eighteen (18) years of age or older, with “video game” including electronic amusement devices using computer/microprocessor/cathode ray tube or designed to be used with a television/monitor that interacts with the user.
Section 21 prohibits tobacco advertisements on the Internet and similar medium unless the website is restricted to persons eighteen (18) years of age or older; the site is deemed restricted if access beyond the first page requires proof of being at least eighteen (18) years old.
Section 21 allows company Internet websites to provide company/product information and smoking-and-health information.
Section 21 allows business-to-business transactions over the Internet between tobacco manufacturers, retailers, and distributors.
Section 22 bans tobacco advertising on a time schedule: beginning 1 January 2007, all tobacco advertising on television/cable television and radio is prohibited; beginning 1 July 2007, all cinema and outdoor advertising is prohibited and leaflets/posters/outdoor materials cannot be posted except inside point-of-sale retail establishment premises; beginning 1 July 2008, all tobacco advertising in mass media is prohibited except tobacco advertisements placed inside the premises of point-of-sale retail establishments.

Tobacco promotions, naming rights, and sponsorship bans

Section 23 requires tobacco promotions to be directed only to persons at least eighteen (18) years old, prohibits participation by or appearance of persons below that age, and requires participants to provide proof of age.
Section 23 requires consumer communications on promotions to comply with tobacco advertising rules and requires the age requirement for promotion participation to be clearly marked on program materials distributed to consumers.
Section 23 requires all stalls/booths/displays for tobacco promotions to be limited to point-of-sale locations or adult-only facilities.
Section 23 requires telephone communications concerning promotional offers/programs/events to include a recorded health warning message in English or Filipino consistent with required warnings.
Section 23 prohibits manufacturers/distributors/retailers from using tobacco product packages or advertisements as props in television programs or motion pictures intended for viewing by the general public or in video/optical discs/video game machines.
Section 23 permits brand appearance on cigarette lighters, ashtrays, or similar smoking-related items, but requires a health warning consistent with Act warnings if the brand indicia is larger than fifty (50) square centimeters.
Section 23 prohibits distribution/sale/offering of merchandise (including t-shirts, caps, sweatshirts, visors, backpacks, sunglasses, writing implements, and umbrellas) with visible cigarette brand indicia when worn/used to others, unless clothing items are in adult sizes only.
Section 23 prohibits brand indicia or brand-related marketing elements on items marketed to or likely to be used by minors (including sports equipment, toys, dolls, miniature replicas of racing vehicles, video games, and food), and requires manufacturers/companies to take all available measures to prevent third parties from using the company’s brand names/logo or proprietary material on products directed toward minors.
Section 23 prohibits tobacco advertisements on shopping bags.
Section 24 prohibits manufacturers from entering agreements requiring payment or other consideration in exchange for sports league/team use of a tobacco product brand name.
Section 24 prohibits manufacturers from entering agreements for naming rights of stadiums/arenas using a tobacco product brand name or otherwise causing stadiums/arenas to be named with such brand name.
Section 25 imposes sponsorship restrictions beginning 1 July 2006, prohibiting sponsorship for events/activities bearing a tobacco brand name unless sponsors have reasonable basis to believe all persons who complete or actively take part are at least eighteen (18) years old.
Section 25 prohibits sponsorship of teams/individuals bearing a tobacco product name unless all persons sponsored are at least eighteen (18) years old.
Section 25 prohibits sponsorship of events/activities reasonably believed to be particularly appealing to persons under eighteen (18) years old.
Section 25 prohibits tobacco brand sponsorships except where reasonable basis exists that at least seventy-five percent (75%) of persons attending are at least eighteen (18) years old, and the event/activity is not particularly appealing to under-eighteen (18)-year-olds, and exposure on television/radio/Internet (other than news items) complies with marketing provisions, and the principal activity does not require above-average physical fitness for the age group.
Section 25 requires all persons authorized to bear tobacco product advertisements/logos/brand names at sponsored events to be at least eighteen (18) years old.
Section 25 requires all advertising associated with or ancillary to sponsorship to comply with the Act’s marketing provisions.
Section 26 prohibits cigarette and tobacco companies from sponsoring any sports, concert, cultural or art event, and individual/team athletes/artists/performers where sponsorship would require or involve advertising/promotion of cigarettes/tobacco company/tobacco product/tobacco use or associated brand names/logos/words/symbols/designs/colors likely to identify a tobacco product, beginning 1 July 2008.
Section 26 permits only attribution to the company name in the sponsors roster, while still prohibiting later conduct that allows tobacco brands as company names after passage (no manufacturer may register a tobacco brand name as company name after passage of the Act).

Sampling ban and legal actions rule

Section 27 prohibits distribution of tobacco product samples to persons below eighteen (18) years old.
Section 28 provides that legal actions connected with the tobacco industry are governed by the Philippine Civil Code and other applicable laws.

IAC-Tobacco governance, monitoring, and oversight

Section 29 creates the Inter-Agency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-Tobacco) with exclusive power and function to administer and implement the Act.
Section 29 provides that the IAC-Tobacco is chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and vice-chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH).
Section 29 lists IAC-Tobacco members as the Secretary of DA, DOJ, DOF, DENR, DOST, DepEd, the Administrator of the NTA, a tobacco industry representative nominated by legitimate and recognized industry associations, and an NGO representative involved in public health promotion nominated by DOH in consultation with concerned NGOs.
Section 29 allows Department Secretaries to designate Undersecretaries as authorized representatives to the IAC.
Section 31 requires the IAC-Tobacco to submit to the President and both Houses of Congress a Compliance Monitoring Report not later than one (1) year after the Act’s effectivity and manually thereafter.
Section 31 requires the compliance report to contain information on manufacturers’ methods, goals, and implementation programs regarding compliance with all applicable laws and ordinances on tobacco manufacture and distribution.
Section 36 constitutes a Congressional Oversight Committee on Tobacco (COC-Tobacco) mandated to monitor and review implementation for a period not exceeding three (3) years.
Section 36 composes the COC-Tobacco of the chairpersons of specified Senate and House committees and includes a House Member representing tobacco-producing provinces nominated by all House Members from tobacco-producing districts.
Section 36 provides that the COC-Tobacco Secretariat comes from existing secretariat personnel of the standing committees and its funding is charged to appropriations of both Houses of Congress.

Implementing rules and appropriations

Section 37 requires the IAC-Tobacco to promulgate implementing rules and regulations within six (6) months from the date of publication of the Act.
Section 37 requires submission of implementing rules to the COC-Tobacco for review.
Section 37 requires COC-Tobacco approval of the implementing rules within thirty (30) working days of receipt.
Section 37 makes the Act’s specific provisions immediately executory if the implementing rules are not promulgated within the specified period.
Section 38 provides that amounts necessary to implement the Act are charged against the current year’s appropriations of concerned national government agencies; continued implementation funds are included in agencies’ budgets under the annual General Appropriations Act.

Tobacco products scope and export-only rule

Section 30 applies the Act’s provisions to all tobacco products placed into commerce in the Philippines.
Section 30 exempts tobacco products intended or offered by the manufacturer for export and not for retail sale in the Philippines, subject to a shipping container marking requirement.
Section 30 requires export-only products to have shipping containers prominently marked on the outside: “Export Only:”
Section 30 mandates immediate confiscation and destruction for tobacco products marked for export but sold/traded/distributed in the Philippine market.

Penalties and sanctions for violations

Section 32 imposes penalties for violations of Sections 5 and 6: first offense fine not less than PHP 500.00 but not more than PHP 1,000.00; second offense fine not less than PHP 1,000.00 but not more than PHP 5,000.00.
Section 32 provides that for third offenses of Sections 5 and 6, the court imposes a fine not less than PHP 5,000.00 but not more than PHP 10,000.00, and cancels or revokes business permits and licenses to operate.
Section 32 sets penalties for violations of Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11: for the first offense, the court imposes a fine of not less than PHP 5,000.00 or imprisonment of not less than PHP 5,000.00 to not more than thirty (30) days, at the court’s discretion.
Section 32 provides that for succeeding offenses of Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, both penalties apply plus revocation of business licenses or permits for the business entity/establishment.
Section 32 requires that if the violation is committed by a business entity/establishment, the owner, president, manager, or most senior officers are held liable.
Section 32 provides that if a minor is caught selling, buying, or smoking tobacco products, Article 189 of Presidential Decree No. 603 (the Child and Youth Welfare Code, as amended) applies.
Section 32 imposes penalties for violations of Sections 13 to 27: first offense—fine not more than PHP 100,000.00 or imprisonment not more than one (1) year, or both; second offense—fine PHP 200,000.00 or imprisonment not more than two (2) years, or both; third offense—fine not more than PHP 400,000.00 or imprisonment not more than three (3) years, or both, and revocation/cancellation of business permits and licenses for business entities/establishments.
Section 32 provides that for business entities/establishments, the owner, president, manager, or officials are liable.
Section 32 provides that if the guilty party is an alien, the alien is summarily deported after serving the sentence and is forever barred from re-entering the Philippines.

Government programs to address tobacco industry impacts

Section 33 directs national government and concerned departments/agencies to provide programs for a period not exceeding five (5) years.
Section 33 establishes a Tobacco Growers’ Assistance Program to financially support tobacco farmers displaced by the Act or who voluntarily ceased to produce tobacco, requiring convincing and substantial evidence that the beneficiary was a tobacco farmer for the last three (3) years prior to January 1, 2004, belongs to tobacco-producing provinces, has a certificate of eligibility issued by the Local Government Unit and the NTA, and has ceased to plant tobacco for the next preceding season after enactment.
Section 33 establishes a Tobacco Growers’ Cooperative program to promote cooperatives assisting tobacco farmers in developing alternative farming systems, planting alternative crops, and other livelihood projects using the same eligibility requirements.
Section 33 requires a National Smoking Cessation Program to be undertaken with IAC-Tobacco approval; the implementing rules/guidelines are to be submitted by the Secretary of Health to the IAC within three (3) months after effectivity.
Section 33 requires the IAC-Tobacco to establish a research and development program spearheaded by the NTA in cooperation with DOST, for studies to reduce risk of dependence and injury from tobacco use and exposure, and for alternative uses of tobacco and similar research.
Section 33 establishes a National Tobacco-Free Public Education Program where State Universities and Colleges and Technical and Vocational Schools provide scholarship programs for dependents of tobacco growers, with implementing rules/guidelines submitted to IAC-Tobacco within three (3) months after effectivity.
Section 33 requires the Secretary of Labor and Employment, with concurrence of IAC-Tobacco, to establish a Displaced Cigarette Factory Workers’ Assistance Program, with rules/guidelines coordinated with NTA and DTI to be submitted to IAC-Tobacco within three (3) months after effectivity.
Section 33 provides for Health Programs: IAC-Tobacco, in consultation with DOH, awards grants to medical institutions to plan, carry out, and evaluate activities related to smoking-related illnesses, and submits annual reports of expenditures to Congress and the President.
Section 33 requires DOH to establish Withdrawal Clinics for counseling and rehabilitation of smokers regarding hazardous health effects, and provides that if a smoker-minor voluntarily submits for treatment through a parent/guardian, clinic expenses are reimbursable outpatient service of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.

Information drive, school instruction, and curricula

Section 34 requires DOH, in cooperation with DepEd and with assistance of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), to undertake a continuous information program on the harmful effects of smoking.
Section 34 directs DOH to enlist active participation of public and private sectors to discourage smoking.
Section 35 requires integrating instruction on adverse effects of cigarette/tobacco smoking—including health, environmental, and economic implications—into existing curricula of all public and private elementary and high schools.
Section 35 requires DepEd Secretary to promulgate necessary rules and regulations to carry out the policy.
Section 35 requires DepEd and the Secretary of Health, with IAC-Tobacco approval, to cause publication and distribution of materials on unhealthy effects of smoking to students and the general public.

Repeals and separability

Section 39 repeals DOH Administrative Orders No. 10 s. 1993 and No. 24 s. 2003, and amends Article 94 of Republic Act No. 7394, the Consumer Act of the Philippines.
Section 39 repeals or amends all other laws, decrees, ordinances, administrative orders, rules, and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the Act.
Section 40 provides separability: if any provision is later declared unconstitutional, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.