Market & legal data in the tobacco alternatives sector in Malaysia

5th November 2024: Malaysia: Health minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad has reportedly said that since 1st October 2024, the date of entry into force of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, 190 companies have registered their tobacco and nicotine products with the Ministry of Health, a requirement envisaged in the same act. These 190 companies include 30 cigarette companies, 4 cigar companies, 1 company selling cigarillos, 8 tobacco companies and 147 vape companies.
16th October 2024: Malaysia: The minister of health has said that there is no plan to reverse the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 and that they will ensure that all efforts and commitment are directed at enforcing it, press reports. The statements follow the calls from 24 different public health non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to the government to strictly and consistently enforce the act.
30th September 2024: Malaysia: Today, the Ministry of Health issued today the set of regulations developing the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, putting the new legal framework for tobacco products, including heated tobacco, into operation starting tomorrow, 1st October. Among other things, the regulations envisage packaging and labelling requirements, including a health warning; an online and vending machine sales ban; usage restrictions; and a mandatory registration of tobacco products and its process. An order establishing the list of laboratories accredited to carry out the testing has also been issued. The Ministry of Health previously said that it would give a grace for the industry to adapt to the new regulations, which will end on 1st April 2025.
25th September 2024: Malaysia: Yesterday (24th September), minister of health Dzulkefly Ahmad posted on social media that the implementing regulations of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 will be issued on 1st October 2024, making the act and regulations enter into force on the same day. The act was published in February 2024 to establish a regulatory framework for vaping and heated tobacco products (HTPs), but cannot enter into force until the implementing regulations are issued by the Ministry of Health.
17th September 2024: Malaysia: Health groups representing medical doctors, pharmacists, parents and youths have called for the implementation of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 and its regulations by October, press reports. The act was published in February but will not enter into force until the implementing regulations are issued by the Ministry of Health. The 20 health groups demand point-of-sale display bans, prohibition of sales online and via vending machines, and mandatory health warnings for tobacco products.
16th September 2024: Malaysia: The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP), an organisation upholding consumer rights and interests in Malaysia, has urged the government to urgently ban the display of tobacco-related products at payment counters in shops, press reports. The draft regulations to implement the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, which would regulate heated tobacco products, have still not been published.
10th September 2024: Malaysia: The Department of Statistics Malaysia released statistics today on the manufacturing sector’s value, which reached MYR157.1bn ($36.2bn) in July – a surge of 9.1% compared with a year ago. The increase was driven largely by a double-digit growth of 16% in the food, beverages and tobacco subsector.
3rd September 2024: Malaysia: Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad recently said the draft regulations implementing the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 are in the final stages of approval by the attorney general, and that the regulations, alongside the act, are expected to be enforced by October, press reports. The health minister said in May of this year that the regulations would be issued in June, and in July, he said they would be issued in August. In August, the minister of health said that the regulations would be issued by the end of this year. The regulations will comprehensively regulate e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.
2nd August 2024: Malaysia: The minister of health said yesterday (1st August) that the regulations implementing the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 will be issued by the end of this year, press reports. The regulations would put the act, published in February, into operation. The implementing regulations keep being postponed, as the health minister said in May of this year that they would be issued in June, and in July, he said they would be issued in August. E-cigarettes have remained unregulated in the country since March 2023, when the previous minister of health removed nicotine-containing e-liquids from the Poisons Act 1952.
2nd July 2024: Malaysia: The minister of health reportedly said yesterday (1st July) that the regulations implementing the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 will be issued in August this year. The regulations would develop the law, published in February, which created a regulatory framework for e-cigarettes and to further regulate heated tobacco products (HTPs). The regulations are also needed to make the law enter into force. The health minister said in May that these regulations would be issued in June, but it did not happen. Although HTPs fall under the general tobacco framework, this law would introduce further notification requirements as well as labelling and advertising restrictions.
17th May 2024: Malaysia: The health minister said yesterday (16th May) that the regulations implementing the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 will be issued in June 2024, press reports. These regulations are needed to implement the law, published in February 2024, which created a regulatory framework for e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.
14th March 2024: Malaysia: Deputy minister of health Lukanisman Awang Sauni has said today in the parliament that plain packaging and flavour restrictions are being considered for heated tobacco products in the developing regulations of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, press reports. As we reported yesterday, the developing regulations are still under review and thus are subject to change.

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