Endgame Bill to be tabled

All smiles: Dr Zaliha posing with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (left) before the ANMS meeting at the Parliament building yesterday. — Bernama

THE tabling of the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill, or Generational Endgame (GEG) Bill, will be expedited despite objection to the planned tax on all vape products, says Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

The Health Minister said the government was aiming to table the Bill as soon as possible in the Dewan Rakyat.

“The government is aware of the planned vape tax and we are in the midst of expediting the Bill.

“If not during this session, it will be during the next one,” she told reporters during a press conference after attending the Agenda Nasional Malaysia Sihat (ANMS) Cabinet committee meeting yesterday.

The Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC) had opposed the planned tax on all vape products before the Tobacco and Smoking Control Bill became law.

MCTC, which comprises 70 NGOs, professional bodies and medical associations, said the tax would run counter to the government’s intention to create a smoke-free generation of Malaysians by 2040.

“The vape tax should only be introduced after the GEG Bill is passed in Parliament and all vape products are regulated,” said MCTC in a statement earlier.

Under the Bill, children born in 2007 and subsequent years will be prohibited from smoking, buying or possessing any type of smoking product, including electronic cigarettes or vape products, even after reaching the age of 18.

When tabling the revised Budget 2023 on Feb 24, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said nicotine vape liquids are still illegally sold with an estimated RM2bil or more in sales.

Therefore, the government proposed a tax on nicotine-based products used in electronic cigarettes, with half of the excise duties channelled to the Health Ministry in support of the GEG Bill.

On a separate matter, Dr Zaliha said the ministry was still in discussion with Pfizer Sdn Bhd about Covid-19 bivalent vaccines.

“God-willing, once we have completed it, we will announce when it will be distributed,” she said.

On Jan 2, she was reported as saying that the Covid-19 bivalent vaccines would be supplied to the country soon, following the approval of the conditional registration given by the Drug Control Authority.