Health Ministry getting new date for second reading of GEG Bill, says Dr Zaliha

PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry is now in the midst of obtaining a new date to table the revised anti-smoking Bill for a second reading, says Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

The Control of Smoking Product for Public Health Bill was initially slated to be tabled for a second reading on Oct 10 but it has since been postponed to make way for government affairs in Parliament.

“We are in the midst of getting a date from Parliament. God willing, (please) pray that we will be able to table the Bill for the second reading,” the Health Minister told reporters at the National Mental Health Day 2023 celebration at The Curve on Sunday (Oct 22).

“We want to get the date first (to table for the second reading). On whether to review (the Bill) or not, we will look at it in detail,” she said when asked whether the Bill will be reviewed once again.

She added that the Bill has already been laid before parliament and the parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) had also released the statement of its findings and recommendations after reviewing the bill for the second time.

On Oct 9 and Oct 12, The Star reported in two separate reports that the Bill will be pushed back to make way for the House’s order of business pertaining to Budget 2024, which was tabled on Oct 13.

A source said there will be no time for the ministry to table the Bill for the second reading once debates on the budget begins

The debates and the eventual voting on Budget 2024 is expected to go on until Nov 27-28. This leaves the ministry with two to three days to table and pass the bill before the Dewan Rakyat meeting concludes on Nov 30.

Sources say the Bill has also met with resistance, namely by lobbyists from the business community.

The Bill was tabled for its first reading in June this year before being sent to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) for further review.

This was not the first time the anti-smoking Bill was sent to the PSSC for review and fine-tuning.

The original Bill, known as the Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022, was first tabled by then health minister Khairy Jamaluddin last year.