Amended version of anti-smoking Bill to be tabled for first reading in the Dewan Rakyat today

KUALA LUMPUR: The “amended version” of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health 2023 Bill, dubbed as the anti-smoking Bill, is listed for the first reading on the Dewan Rakyat’s order paper on Tuesday (Nov 28).

It is listed on page 12 of the Dewan Rakyat’s order paper for Tuesday.

A Health Ministry source told The Star that the Bill that was slated to be tabled on Tuesday was the amended version which would include tweaks.

It is believed that the generational end-game (GEG) element which seeks to ban those born in 2007 and onwards from smoking or purchasing smoking products may be removed from the Bill.

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It was initially scheduled to be tabled on Oct 10, but it was postponed at the eleventh hour.

The current Dewan Rakyat sitting ends on Nov 30.

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.

While tabling the motion to refer the Bill to the PSSC, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said that this is to allow the committee to make the necessary recommendations to further fine-tune the laws for the GEG.

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“The Bill was tabled to Cabinet and received approval to be tabled in Parliament,” she said.

“The first reading of the Bill shows that the government is committed to implementing it,” she added.

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

The original Bill which was known as the Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022 was first tabled by then Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin last year.

It was later sent to the committee for fine-tuning due to resistance from several lawmakers.

This was done after the bill was tabled for the first reading.