As part of its plans to expand operations in the Asia-Pacific region, US e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs partnered with the subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings, Inc. to enter the Philippine market, BusinessWorld reported.

“[The company’s entry into] the Asia Pacific market [is the] next step in the company’s mission to help improve the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers by offering a viable alternative to combustible cigarettes,” Juul Labs said in a statement. According to the company, the Philippines is home to 16 million smokers. For its Philippine venture, the company partnered with Better For You Corp., a subsidiary of Gokongwei-led JG Summit, the report said.
The Philippine Department of Health (DoH) said that there is “no specific evidence to confirm the product’s safety and efficacy” and that e-cigarettes are not “proven nicotine replacement therapy”. According to the report, Juul’s entry in the Philippines comes as Congress recently approved a higher levy on heated tobacco and vapour products. Heated tobacco products such as e-cigarettes will be taxed at PHP 10 (EUR 0.17) per pack beginning January 2020, followed by annual increases of 5 per cent starting from 2021.
San Francisco-based Juul entered the South Korean market last month and will launch its products in Indonesia in the next few weeks.