By Ranjit Singh
JT International Bhd’s (JTI) managing director Cormac O’ Rourke said Malaysia has retained the top spot globally as the country with the biggest illicit cigarette market.
“Malaysia has been the top country in the world for illicit cigarettes two years running,” O’ Rourke said at a media briefing today (Feb 19).
JTI released the results from the Illegal Cigarettes Study from Nielsen which showed the illegal cigarette trade in the country reached 62.3% in 2019 compared to 58.9% in 2018, an increase of 3.4%. It was estimated that 12.2 billion sticks of contraband cigarettes were sold and consumed locally in 2019.
O’ Rourke said RM5 bil was lost from the sale of illicit cigarettes that could have been collected as tax revenue.
“Six out of 10 cigarettes consumed locally were illegal. We have called for the establishment of a body to coordinate enforcement and policy matters involving various law enforcement and regulatory agencies. Regulation without enforcement was meaningless,” added O’ Rourke.
He lauded the creation of a Multi- Agency Task Force involving the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs and Royal Malaysian Police to tackle illegal trading in cigarettes and alcohol.
O’ Rourke was against plans by the MoH to amend the existing Control of Tobacco Products Regulations 2004 (CTPR) to increase the minimum price of cigarettes from RM10 to RM15 per pack. He said the move would lead to a rise in illegal trading of cigarettes.
On another matter, O’ Rourke highlighted the growth of the illegal vaping industry which represented 10% of the market. One worrying trend was 30% of illegal vaping users were new to smoking. While nicotine came under the Poisons Act 1952, vaping was unregulated. – Feb 19, 2020
