Tag: Malaysia

  • Pack size matters

    Pack size matters

    While Malaysia has been debating long and hard over whether to reintroduce 10-piece packs of cigarettes, in part to help combat a rising illegal trade, illegal traders have been busy introducing 25-piece packs to the market, according to a story in The Independent Singapore.

    The chairman of the Malaysia-Singapore Coffeeshop Proprietors General Association (MSCSPGA) Ho Su Mong was quoted as saying that these bigger packs had been

    gaining converts, which could mean that smokers of illicit cigarettes were now smoking more than they used to do.

    The MSCSPGA was said to have lambasted the authorities for closing their eyes to the illegal trade in cigarettes. It was quoted as saying that while the authorities squabbled over how to curb sales of illicit cigarettes, more young people were being drawn toward these cheaper products.

    The association says the government should allow the sale of 10-piece packs of cigarettes as a pragmatic tool to address the illegal cigarette trade and reduce smoking overall.

    In addition, the association is urging NGOs to take into consideration that the authorities, including the Ministry of Health, have said that the incidence of smoking, especially amongst young people, had gone up over the years due to the widely-accessible and affordable illicit cigarettes.

    “By not addressing this reality, NGOs are only helping the illegal cigarette trade to continue to flourish and harm the very people they want to protect,” said Ho.

    “If we truly want to reduce overall smoking and accessibility, we need to fight the real threat which is illegal cigarettes.”

  • Small packs opposed

    Small packs opposed

    The Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS) has come out strongly against a suggestion that a ban on the sale of cigarette packs containing fewer than 20 pieces should be lifted, according to a story in The Edge.

    The MPS said that lifting the ban, as proposed by the Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietor’s General Association, would be a step backwards and would run counter to Malaysia’s efforts to reduce smoking among young people.

    The association believes that the restoration of smaller packs would go some way to reducing the country’s rampant illegal trade.

    In a statement, the MPS said Malaysia was committed to reducing smoking across the country’s population. Countries such as New Zealand, Singapore and Bhutan had introduced similar initiatives.

    ‘In light of the government’s efforts to reduce smoking across the nation, the restoration of the “kiddie pack” would be a step backwards and does not carry any benefit for the people or for the country,’ the MPS said.

    ‘As one of the key stakeholders in the efforts to reduce smoking in Malaysia, the MPS believes that efforts implemented by the government in 2006 to ban “kiddie packs” should be carried on and supported by all.’

    Meanwhile, the MPS said it hoped the Malaysian government would implement stricter laws on the illegal trade in cigarettes so that heftier penalties might be imposed on those involved in the supply chain.

    “Due to the lower sale price of illegal cigarettes, the number of underage smokers has in turn increased,” the MPS said.

  • Small-pack claims denied

    Small-pack claims denied

    The Malaysian Health Ministry has dismissed rumors that packs with fewer than 20 cigarettes would be allowed to return to the local market, according to a story by Nora Jaswa for FreeMalaysiaToday.com.

    It was widely reported, including here, yesterday, that Charles Santiago, the member of parliament for Klang, had said there was ‘talk’ that 10-stick cigarette packs – what he referred to as ‘kiddie packs’ – would be allowed to go on sale to combat the sale of illegal tobacco.

    But the Health Minister Dr. S Subramaniam said the ministry would not give approval for the sale of such packs.

    “The rumors of the ‘kiddie packs’ being sold are not true,” he was quoted as saying. “The ministry has not endorsed it.

    “Legislation prohibits the sale of small packs of cigarettes of fewer than 20 sticks. This is also consistent with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which Malaysia is a part of.”

  • Who sets tobacco policy?

    Who sets tobacco policy?

    Allowing the sale in Malaysia of packs containing fewer than 20 cigarettes would again demonstrate that tobacco lobbyists were determining government policy, questioning the sovereignty of policy making in the country, according to an opinion piece in the Malay Mail by Charles Santiago, the member of parliament for Klang.

    Santiago said that there was ‘talk’ that 10-stick cigarette packs – what he referred to as ‘kiddie packs’ – would be sold to combat the sale of illegal tobacco.

    Sales of packs with fewer than 20 cigarettes have been banned since 2010.

    For the past few years, the three major tobacco companies operating in Malaysia have been complaining about the steep increases in tobacco excise taxes that have been imposed and the level of illegal tobacco trade in the country.

    Santiago said, however, that allowing the smaller packs would ‘encourage the sales of cigarettes as they would become much more affordable, even for students, young adults and women’.

    ‘But to address the affordability of cigarettes, especially to lower income persons and youths, the Malaysian government introduced the Minimum Price Law (MPL) in 2010, in conjunction with a ban on selling cigarettes in packs of less than 20 sticks,’ Santiago said.

    ‘Last year, the Health Ministry told parliament that the government plans to introduce plain-packaging on cigarette packets as a way of reducing smoking in the country, a move successfully adopted in countries such as Australia and Uruguay.

    ‘But the government received brickbats from big tobacco companies following the announcement and the policy was shelved.

    ‘This time around tobacco lobbyists have bypassed the Health Ministry altogether, earning the wrath of its director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah who has been reported as being against the sales of kiddie packs.

    ‘Instead of pandering to the whims of tobacco lobbyists, the government must consult all stakeholders including the Health Ministry, anti-tobacco lobbyists and schools to weigh in on the sales of kiddie packs.

    ‘If these smaller packs come to be on sale, it would again demonstrate that tobacco lobbyists are determining government policy, questioning the sovereignty of policy making in the country.’

  • 2045 smoke-free target

    2045 smoke-free target

    Malaysia believes that it will be able to become smoke-free by 2045 through the implementation of anti-smoking initiatives and co-operation with other ASEAN countries, according to a story in The Sun Daily.

    The Sun quoted the Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Hilmi Yahaya as saying that strategies being drawn up included ‘intensifying health promotion efforts in a comprehensive manner’.

    “Cigarettes or tobacco are the biggest threat and main risk factor for non-communicable diseases, which contribute to more than half a million deaths in the ASEAN region each year,” Hilmi said.

    “That is why Malaysia together with other ASEAN countries wish to co-operate and share views towards creating smoke-free nations. I believe Malaysia will be able to reach the target by 2045.”

    Hilmi was speaking in George Town after opening the Regional Smoke-Free Cities Workshop and The Summit of Smoke-Free Leaders.

    He was joined by the South-East Asia Tobacco Control Alliance chairman, Dr. Siriwat Tiptaradol, and the Malaysian Health Promotion Board chairman, Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Nasir Mohd Ashraf.

    Hilmi said the Health Ministry aimed to reduce the number of smokers in Malaysia to 15 percent by 2025 and to less than five percent by 2045, in line with the target of becoming a smoke-free nation.

    The deputy minister said the government had undertaken various initiatives such as raising the excise duty on cigarettes and requiring graphic health warnings on cigarette packs.

    The government was making available free services at 944 quit-smoking clinics, through which 2,973 smokers, or 27.6 percent of the 10,791 smokers who had sought advice and counselling, had managed to quit smoking.

  • ‘Smoke-free’ status sought

    ‘Smoke-free’ status sought

    Malaysia is aiming to reduce the incidence of tobacco smoking in the country to 15 percent by 2025 and to five per cent by 2045, according to a story in The Borneo Post. Some people claim that a smoking incidence of below five percent is indicative of a smoke-free nation.

    There seemed to be no specific new initiatives aimed at reducing the prevalence of smoking, but Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam was quoted as saying the ministry ‘would be intensifying efforts to empower and promote overall health to assist smokers to kick the unhealthy habit’.

    Subramaniam said the government had carried out various initiatives to combat smoking, including raising the excise duty on cigarettes, requiring that health warnings were displayed on cigarette packs, and banning smoking in almost all public places.

    “We hope the people will heed the message seriously and co-operate with the government to produce a smoking-free nation,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

    The National Health and Morbidity Survey in 2015 showed that 22.8 percent or five million Malaysians aged 15 and above were smokers.

    Most of the smokers were men, and male smokers were said to make up 43 percent of the group actively contributing to national economic growth.

    Subramaniam said that, on average, Malaysians spent about RM178 a month on cigarettes, while the nation needed to spend RM2.92 billion annually in treating those with diseases linked to smoking.

    “Imagine how much Malaysians would save if they stopped smoking,” he added.

  • Two years for vaping

    Two years for vaping

    Those caught smoking or vaping in parks in the Malaysian state of Selangor face a maximum fine of RM10,000 or up to two years’ imprisonment, according to a story in The Star.

    The punishments will be meted out under the Control of Tobacco Product (Amendment) Regulations 2017, which came into force yesterday.

    Selangor Health director Datuk Dr. Zailan Adnan said that enforcement would be carried out in stages.

    “To gazette a park as a non-smoking area is a separate process, we need to know how big the park is and where the boundaries are,” Zailan said.

    “We also need to start soft enforcement, to educate and inform the public.”

    Besides parks, other gazetted non-smoking zones include shopping complexes, air-conditioned premises, government premises, hospitals and gas filling stations.

    The bans are said to be in line with Malaysia’s aim to be a smoke-free nation by 2045.

    Meanwhile, the Star said that, in the state of Perak, ‘those who light up at public and state parks face a RM5,000 fine’.

    The Perak Health Committee chairman Datuk Dr. Mah Hang Soon said the ban on smoking would be enforced in part with spot checks, because ‘the element of surprise was key in deterring smokers from puffing away with no regard for the new law’.

  • Opposition to vape factory

    Opposition to vape factory

    Despite opposition from Malaysia’s Health Ministry and anti-vaping advocates, the country is due soon to have a factory manufacturing vapor devices and nicotine-free e-liquids, according to a story in The New Straits Times.

    Kilang Vape of Malaysia, which is in Nilai Utama Enterprise Park, Negri Sembilan, was supposed to be opened officially on May 12 but the launch failed to materialize.

    Initially, the Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (DTCC), Datuk Henry Sum Agong, was scheduled to open the factory, but the ministry decided against his becoming involved after heeding calls from non-governmental organizations and medical experts.

    The DTCC minister, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, in addressing the issue yesterday, acknowledged that he had received objection letters from several concerned groups about the opening of the factory.

    But Hamzah conceded that the factory represented a business opportunity.

    “There is nothing wrong for them to do business here,” he said. “We have laws and as per our regulations, one needs to have a license to operate in Malaysia. And they have got the license. Everything is in accordance to the law.”

    But there was a sting in the tail of Hamzah’s statement.

    “Whether they can sell the products in the country or not; that depends on the laws of the respective states,” he added.

  • JTI to shut Malaysia plant

    JTI to shut Malaysia plant

    JT International Bhd (JTI Malaysia) has said it will close its plant in Shah Alam, Selangor, by the end of December, a move that end its manufacturing operations in Malaysia, according to a story in The Edge Financial Daily.

    The closure will see about 270 people made redundant and production outsourced to other JTI production facilities.

    The news comes in the wake of a statement by British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT Malaysia) in March 2016 that it would close its cigarette-making facility in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, by the second half of 2017, ‘affecting’ 230 people.

    According to the Daily’s story, JTI Malaysia said in a statement to it that the ‘extremely challenging’ operating environment in Malaysia was one of the main reasons behind the group’s decision to close its plant. It added that the decision was taken after an extensive review of how it supplies its products to its consumers and the operating environment in Malaysia.

    “To ensure consistency in the supply of our quality products to our consumers in Malaysia, we will now source products, for the Malaysian and other Asian markets where we operate, from other JTI production facilities,” the company said.

    For the past few years, the three major tobacco companies, BAT Malaysia, JTI Malaysia and Philip Morris (M) Sdn Bhd, have been complaining about the steep increases in tobacco excise taxes that have been imposed and the level of illegal tobacco trade in the country.

  • Call for tax increase

    Call for tax increase

    About 1.1 million deaths could be prevented during the next 40 years in Malaysia if cigarette prices were increased and other measures put in place, according to a story in The Star.

    Raising the price of a pack of cigarettes from RM17.00 to RM21.50, coupled with other anti-smoking policies, would deter about 2.1 million Malaysians from picking up the habit, according to a study by the Health Ministry and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

    UPM senior lecturer Dr. Norashidah Mohamed Nor, one of the study’s lead researchers, said the excise tax on cigarettes should be increased from 49 percent to 60 percent, which would increase the price per stick from 40 sen to 64 sen.

    But if the government’s target of a 15 percent smoking prevalence in 2025 was to be met, she said, excise increases would have to be backed by 100 percent enforcement of smoke-free policies, a comprehensive marketing ban, including a ban on point-of-sale promotions, and a mass media campaign on the dangers of smoking.

    As of 2015, about five million or 22.8 percent of the Malaysian population aged 15 and above were smokers.

    Referring to claims that the consumption of illicit cigarettes would rise if licit cigarettes were made more expensive, Norashidah said the study had found this to be inaccurate. She described the demand for contraband as relatively stable. Contraband’s share of the overall market had decreased slightly despite the fact that cigarette excise tax had been increased during the “past years”.

    Last month, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Hilmi Yaha­ya said raising cigarette prices to RM21.50 a pack was among the measures to be taken to reduce the number of smokers in the country.

    But the Health director-general Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said the scourge of illicit cigarettes would have to be addressed first before increasing the price. “We are discussing with the Immigration Department, Finance Ministry and all the concerned parties before implementing the new price.”