Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said it is too drastic to ban the use of e-cigarettes and vape products containing nicotine, reports The Edge Markets.
“Taking extreme action to ban vaping, e-cigarettes, is quite drastic, and cannot be done in any country in the world. Many people still smoke, even if we hold [several] campaigns,” he said in Parliament on 4 April.
Anwar was responding to a supplementary question by Kuala Langat MP Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi on whether the excise tax revenue collection worth over MYR 2 billion (USD 226 million) from the vape industry will be enough to discourage the use of vapes.
“We will continue with the excise duty tax. It is difficult to ban [the products], but we can raise awareness, so that people can make their choices. This is the simple approach by the government at the moment,” he said. “The government will also intensify the campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking, including the use of e-cigarettes and vaping, by continuing the implementation of smoking prevention programmes in schools and higher educational institutions in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education, and relevant non-governmental organisations,” Anwar added.
This issue was raised after an imposition of a MYR 0.40 (USD 0.09) per millilitre excise tax on e-cigarettes containing nicotine in liquid or gel in April, meaning the removal of these products from the Poisons Act 1952. The government’s move to delist liquid or gel nicotine has been met with strong criticism.
Local manufacturers producing liquid or gel products containing nicotine now have until 30 April to register their production activities with the Customs Department. The plan to impose such an excise tax was announced by Anwar when he resubmitted the 2023 Budget in February.