OF THE PHILIPPINES )

Second Regular Session )

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9211

AN ACT

REGULATING THE PACKAGING, USE, SALE, DISTRIBUTION AND ADVERTISEMENTS OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives in Congress Assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. ? This Act shall be known as the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003.

Section 2. Policy. - It is the policy of the State to protect the populace from hazardous products and promote the right to health and instill health consciousness among them. It is also the policy of the State, consistent with the Constitutional ideal to promote the general welfare, to safeguard the interests of the workers and other stakeholders in the tobacco industry. For these purposes, the government shall institute a balanced policy whereby the use, sale and advertisements of tobacco products shall be regulated in order to promote a healthful environment and protect the citizens from the hazards of tobacco smoke, and at the same time ensure that the interests of tobacco farmers, growers, workers and stakeholders are not adversely compromised.

Section 3. Purpose. - It is the main thrust of this Act to:

a. Promote a healthful environment;

b. Inform the public of the health risks associated with cigarette smoking and tobacco use;

c. Regulate and subsequently ban all tobacco advertisements and sponsorships;

d. Regulate the labeling of tobacco products;

e. Protect the youth from being initiated to cigarette smoking and tobacco use by prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors;

f. Assist and encourage Filipino tobacco farmers to cultivate alternative agricultural crops to prevent economic dislocation; and

g. Create an Inter-agency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-Tobacco) to oversee the implementation of the provisions of this Act.

Section 4. Definition of Terms. ? As used in this Act:

a. “Advertisement” ? refers to any visual and/or audible message disseminated to the public about or on a particular product that promote and give publicity by words, designs, images or any other means through broadcast, electronic, print or whatever form of mass media, including outdoor advertisements, such as but not limited to signs and billboards. For the purpose of this Act, advertisement shall be understood as tobacco advertisement.

b. “Advertising” - refers to the business of conceptualizing, presenting, making available and communicating to the public, through any form of mass media, any fact, data or information about the attributes, features, quality or availability of consumer products, services or credit.

For the purpose of this Act, advertising shall be understood as tobacco advertising. This shall specifically refer to any messages and images promoting smoking; the purchase or use of cigarette or tobacco products; and cigarette or tobacco trademarks, brand names, design and manufacturer’s names;

c. “Advertiser” ? refers to a person or entity on whose account or for whom an advertisement is prepared and disseminated by the advertising agency, which is a service established and operated for the purpose of counseling or creating and producing and/or implementing advertising programs in various forms of media;

d. “Cigarette” ? refers to any roll or tubular construction, which contains tobacco or its derivatives and is intended to be burned or heated under ordinary conditions of use;

e. “Distributor” ? refers to any person to whom a tobacco product is delivered or sold for purposes of distribution in commerce, except that such term does not include a manufacturer or retailer or common carrier of such product;

f. “Mass Media” - refers to any medium of communication designed to reach a mass of people. For this purpose, mass media includes print media such as, but not limited to, newspapers, magazines, and publications; broadcast media such as,

but not limited to, radio, television, cable television, and cinema; electronic media such as but not limited to the internet;

g. “Minor” - refers to any person below 18 years old;

h. “Manufacturer” ? refers to any person or entity, including a re-packer, who makes, fabricates, assembles, processes, or labels a finished product;

i. “Package” ? refers to packs, boxes, cartons or containers of any kind in which any tobacco product is offered for sale to consumers;

j. “Person” ? refers to an individual, partnership, corporation or any other business or legal entity;

k. “Point-of-Sale” ? refers to any location at which an individual can purchase or otherwise obtain tobacco products;

l. “Promotion” -- refers to an event or activity organized by or on behalf of a tobacco manufacturer, distributor or retailer with the aim of promoting a brand of tobacco product, which event or activity would not occur but for the support given to it by or on behalf of the tobacco manufacturer, distributor or retailer. It may also refer to the display of a tobacco product or manufacturer’s name, trademark, logo, etc. on non-tobacco products. This includes the paid use of tobacco products bearing the brand names, trademarks, logos, etc. in movies, television and other forms of entertainment. For the purpose of this Act, promotion shall be understood as tobacco promotion;

m. “Public Conveyances” - refer to modes of transportation servicing the general population, such as, but not limited to, elevators, airplanes, buses, taxicabs, ships, jeepneys, light rail transits, tricycles, and similar vehicles;

n. “Public Places” ? refer to enclosed or confined areas of all hospitals, medical clinics, schools, public transportation terminals and offices, and buildings such as private and public offices, recreational places, shopping malls, movie houses, hotels, restaurants, and the like;

o. “Retailer” ? refers to any person who or entity that sells tobacco products to individuals for personal consumption;

p. “Smoking” - refers to the act of carrying a lighted cigarette or other tobacco products, whether or not it is being inhaled or smoked;

q. “Sponsorship” ? refers to any public or private contribution to a third party in relation to an event, team or activity made with the aim of promoting a brand of

tobacco product, which event, team or activity would still exist or occur without such contribution. For the purpose of this Act, sponsorship shall be understood as tobacco sponsorship;

r. “Tobacco” ? refers to agricultural components derived from the tobacco plant, which are processed for use in the manufacturing of cigarettes and other tobacco products;

s. “Tobacco Product” ? refers to any product that consists of loose tobacco that contains nicotine and is intended for use in a cigarette, including any product containing tobacco and intended for smoking or oral or nasal use. Unless stated otherwise, the requirements of this Act pertaining to cigarettes shall also apply to other tobacco products;

t. “Tobacco Grower” ? refers to any person who plants tobacco before the enactment of this Act and classified as such by the National Tobacco Administration (NTA); and

u. “Warning” ? refers to the notice printed on the tobacco product or its container and/or displayed in print or aired in broadcast or electronic media including outdoor advertising and which shall bear information on the hazards of tobacco use.