KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 – The Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023 is not scheduled for tabling for second reading in Parliament today, the last day of the current Dewan Rakyat meeting.
This means that vape and e-cigarettes will remain legally available for sale to minors aged under 18 for at least another four months more until the Lower House meets in October.
Last Monday, the government shockingly referred the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill – which regulates both tobacco and vape products – to the Health parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) after tabling it for first reading, without even letting the bill go to a debate at second reading.
The Order Paper for today’s Dewan Rakyat sitting did not list second reading for the controversial tobacco bill that proposes a generational end game (GEG) ban on tobacco and vape products for anyone born from 2007.
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa’s office did not reply to queries on whether Dr Zaliha would gazette an order to restore liquid and gel nicotine into the Poisons List, after the health minister took it out two months ago last March 31 – against advice from the Poisons Board – to enable the taxation of e-liquids with nicotine.
Both the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and the Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) have told the government to restore liquid nicotine into the list of controlled substances under the Poisons Act, following the referral of the tobacco bill to the Health PSSC.
Dr Zaliha, when referring the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill to the Health PSSC, said that following the government’s engagement session with the Health PSSC last June 6, along with input from MPs, professional bodies, and civil societies, there was a call for “certain matters” to be further examined and refined.
She did not state whether the government would table the bill for second reading in the following parliamentary meeting in October.
