RMC No. 116-2022: Publishes the July 11, 2022 letter from the Food and Drug Administration of the DOH endorsing updates to the List of VAT-Exempt Medicines under RA No. 11534 (CREATE Act)

Key points

1. Update to the list. The letter comes from FDA OIC-Director General Oscar G. Gutierrez, Jr. The list now includes certain medicines prescribed for hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, kidney diseases, mental illness and cancer, and deletes certain COVID-19 medicines previously included.
2. When the exemption takes effect. As clarified under Q&A No. 1 of RMC No. 99-2021, the VAT exemption of the covered medicines and medical devices takes effect on the date the FDA publishes the updates to the list.

Deadlines and effectivity

• FDA letter dated July 11, 2022
• VAT exemption effective on the date of FDA publication of the updates