KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — The Health Ministry is set to re-table the highly anticipated Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill on June 12 for its first reading in Parliament.
Its minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said it is not true that there is uncertainty regarding the timeline of when the Bill would be tabled.
“We have even received a date of when the Bill will be tabled for its first reading, which is June 12.
“So it is not true that there is uncertainty on the timeline for the tabling of the Bill,” Dr Zaliha said during a briefing on the Bill with members of the media at the Parliament building here today.
On May 22, the Ministry of Health said it was ready to re-table the Bill which included the generational endgame (GEG) policy, during the ongoing second meeting of the second session of the 15th Parliament.
The Health Minister’s Special Adviser Dr Helmy Haja Mydin had reportedly said that the Bill is important to protect the health of the young generation and that it comprises two main aspects, namely the control of smoking products including vape and e-cigarettes and the implementation of GEG policy.
Among others, Dr Zaliha assured that 23 recommendations that were proposed previously by the special select committee have been included in the new Bill with amendments that took into consideration concerns and objections.
“When we look at what has been tabled in the Bill before this, there are several things which we have amended.
“This is because the approach we have chosen is more to a ‘soft landing’ with intentions to educate the people,” she added.
Deputy Health Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni who was also present at the briefing said he had as a former Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) been involved in engagements with vape industry players who had raised their objections to specific provisions under the original Bill.
“From my engagement with the industry players, 75 per cent of them have agreed to comply with the law when it is passed,” he said.
