PETALING JAYA: Former health minister Datuk Dr Zaliha Mustafa has defended the government’s 2023 decision to remove liquid nicotine from the Poisons Act after the High Court ruled the move as “irrational”, saying it was a critical step to regulate the booming vape industry and curb black market sales.
She said she subsequently tabled the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill in June 2023 to plug the legal loophole.
She explained the delisting was approved by the then government as it could no longer allow the multi-billion ringgit vape industry to operate without records, registration and monitoring.
Her statement yesterday came after the High Court on Friday allowed a judicial review filed by three health non-governmental organisations, ruling that the government’s decision to delist liquid nicotine was “irrational”.
“Before March 2023, enforcement under the Poisons Act was no longer able to contain the flooding of vape products in the market. Despite being a controlled poison, nicotine vapes were being sold openly in the black market.
“The exemption was a critical step to pull the industry out of the black market so it could be declared, its supply chain monitored and taxed. This matter was also discussed in detail by the Cabinet at the time,” she said.
The then Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill, now a standalone law enforced as Act 852, comprehensively regulates smoking products, vape devices and nicotine liquids while strictly prohibiting sales to minors.
“Malaysia now has a tobacco and vape control ecosystem that is much safer, comprehensive and protects the younger generation, compared to when we only relied on the outdated provisions of the Poisons Act,” she said.
