TobaccoReporter logo

Tag: Malaysia

  • Malaysia Mulls Age-Based Tobacco Ban

    Malaysia Mulls Age-Based Tobacco Ban

    Photo: sezerozger

    Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin wants to ban smoking for the next generation of Malaysians, according to reports by Lowyat and Code Blue. The plan comes in the wake of New Zealand’s announcement that it would prohibit the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2008.

    Jamaluddin plans to table a new Tobacco and Smoking Control Act at the upcoming Parliament meeting from Feb. 28 to March 24, which will replace the current tobacco product control legislation under the Food Act 1983.

    The bill will also regulate e-cigarettes and vape products, according to Jamaluddin, who called the bill a “generation endgame.”

    “For too long, our healthcare system has been burdened with healthcare issues resulting from smoking,” said Jamaluddin. “This allocation will enable smoking to be phased out in stages until one day in [the] future, Malaysia will be a smoke-free country.”

    A date for the proposed legislation has not been specified nor has a cutoff year of birth for the cohort smoking ban.

  • Malaysia Postpones E-Liquid Tax

    Malaysia Postpones E-Liquid Tax

    Photo: Holger

    The government of Malaysia has postponed implementation of a new tax on e-liquids following complaints from vapor companies and consumers, according to The Malaysia Reserve.

    The proposal called for a duty of MYR1.20 ($0.29) per ml of vape liquid or gel, which could have more than doubled the retail prices of bottles for open-systems.

    “We are not surprised by this deferment, considering the blowback from vape industry players and consumers over the high duty rate,” said CGS-CIMB Securities analyst Kamarul Anwar.

    Vapor companies said the tax would make e-cigarettes more expensive than tobacco cigarettes and force the industry to compete with much-less expensive black market products.

    “The tax rates implemented should be made with proportional risks of the product benefits to the hardcore smoking community,” Malaysian Vape Industry Advocacy President Rizani Zakaria told The New Straits Times in October.

    The proposal also ran into opposition from medical groups. “The taxation levels for tobacco harm reduction products in Malaysia must remain risk-proportionate, benchmarked against high-risk products such as cigarettes,” Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Associations Malaysia president Steven Chow said in a statement last November.

    Malaysia currently prohibits nicotine sales for non-medical purposes. Earlier this year, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin informed the World Health Organization that the country would legalize and regulate vaping products to prevent youth access.