High court: FDA has control over tobacco products

THE Supreme Court has ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the power to regulate the health aspect of tobacco products.

In a ruling penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the court en banc affirmed its 2021 decision and denied the motions for reconsideration filed by the Philippine Tobacco Institute Inc. (PTI) and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.

Republic Act 9711, otherwise known as the FDA Act, gives FDA regulatory authority over all health products.

The law’s implementing rules also state that the Department of Health (DoH) is responsible for regulating tobacco products through the FDA.

PTI challenged this provision in the implementing rules by claiming that the Inter-Agency Committee Tobacco (IAC-Tobacco) has exclusive jurisdiction over tobacco products, including its health aspect.

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) ruled in PTI’s favor and held that tobacco products are beyond the FDA’s regulatory power.

But the high court reversed the RTC decision in its 2021 ruling.

This prompted the PTI to challenge the ruling.

Lagman also filed a motion for reconsideration as respondent-intervenor.

In denying the motions for reconsideration, the court ruled that the IAC-Tobacco does not have sole and exclusive jurisdiction over tobacco products and the tobacco industry.

The high court noted that all products affecting health, including tobacco, are covered by the FDA’s mandate to ensure the safety, efficacy, purity, and quality of health products.

Thus, the inclusion of tobacco products in the implementing rules of the FDA Act is in accordance with the law, it said.

The Supreme Court said this is also in accordance with the Philippines’ commitments under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC).