THE appointment of ninth Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the new Cabinet gives new hope to Malaysians who are keen to see a leadership that is able to improve the state of the country.
As the voice of the country’s vape industry, the Malaysian Vape Industry Advocacy (MVIA) and the Malaysian Vape Chamber of Commerce (MVCC) welcome the new appointments in hopes that the new leadership will be more supportive of the vape community which has been marginalised for too long.
According to MVIA president Rizani Zakaria, discussions on the implementation of regulations for the vape industry have been on-going for a long time but have thus not been fruitful. With this new leadership, MVIA believes it is time for the government to decide.
“The constant change in the country’s leadership has disrupted discussions on the implementation regulations. As a result, the industry remains unsure of its future,” Rizani pointed out.
During the tabling of the 2021 Budget, the Government announced an excise tax that will be implemented for vape devices and e-liquids without nicotine.
Industry players hope that the new Government will expand the taxation framework to include excise tax for e-liquids with nicotine as well as regulating the entire industry.
“We hope that the Government will consider recommendations put forward by the vape industry to introduce industry-wide regulations as well as to introduce an excise tax on e-liquids with nicotine in the tabling of the 2022 Budget as a continuation of the measures implemented last year.”
Meanwhile, MVCC’s information head Ashraf Rozali welcomes the appointment of Khairy Jamaludin as Health Minister given the latter is perceived to be an individual who makes decisions based on facts and evidence.
“In 2015, Khairy who was then the Youth and Sports Minister had urged the Government to implement regulations for the vape industry and did not agree with the proposal to ban the use of vape as traditional cigarettes were allowed for sale governed by regulations.
“In fact, he was quoted in media saying that vape has shown evidence of lower health risks compared with cigarettes based on studies done in European countries.
“Now as the Health Minister, we hope Khairy will help speed up the implementation of regulations based on facts and evidence shown in European countries so that industry players operate within a regulated ecosystem.”
Meanwhile, MVIA’s Rizani added that with the existence of an ecosystem with regulations, the vape industry can grow in the domestic and global markets, thus attracting foreign investors to Malaysia.
“The local vape industry is currently estimated to be worth RM2.27 bil and involving 3,300 businesses with more than 15,000 employees. There are more than 1 million vape users in Malaysia,” he observed.
“If the local vape industry is regulated, we believe it can grow significantly to compete with other major industries.” – Sept 3, 2021
