KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Vape Industry Advocacy (MVIA) and the Malaysian Vape Chamber of Commerce (MVCC) are hopeful that the new cabinet will take proactive steps towards implementing regulations for the domestic vape industry.
MVIA president Rizani Zakaria said the matter has been discussed for a long time but has failed to be implemented so far.
"With this new cabinet and leadership, MVIA believes it is time for the government to decide," he said in a statement today.
"The constant change in the country's leadership has disrupted discussions on the implementation regulations. As a result, the industry remains unsure of its future," he said.
The government announced an excise tax on vape devices and nicotine-free e-liquids during the presentation of the 2021 Budget last year.
Industry players now hope the new government will expand the tax framework to include an excise tax on nicotine-containing e-liquids as well as industry-wide regulations.
"We hope the government will consider the recommendations put forward by the vape industry to introduce regulations for the vape industry as well as to introduce an excise tax on e-liquids with nicotine in the tabling of the 2022 Budget, as a continuation of the measures implemented last year," Rizani said.
According to Rizani, the government should immediately implement industry-specific regulations to ensure the industry can thrive in a regulated environment and benefits multiple parties.
"We are ready to work with the government to discuss and provide our views on regulations for the industry," he said.
Meanwhile, the appointment of Khairy Jamaluddin as health minister is welcomed by MVCC head of information Ashraf Rozali, who believes Khairy is a person who makes decisions based on facts and evidence.
"Now, as the health minister, we hope Khairy will help speed up the implementation of regulations based on facts and evidence shown in European countries so that industry players operate within a regulated ecosystem," he said.
Ashraf said in 2015, Khairy, who was then the minister of youth and sports, urged the government to implement regulations for the vape industry and disagreed with the proposal to ban the use of vape, as traditional cigarettes were allowed for sale governed by regulations.
"In fact, he was quoted in media saying that vape has shown evidence of lower health risks compared with cigarettes based on studies done in European countries," he said.
Moving on, Rizani said with the existence of an ecosystem with regulations, the vape industry can grow in the domestic and global markets and attract foreign investors to Malaysia.
"The local vape industry is currently estimated to be worth RM2.27 billion, involving 3,300 businesses with more than 15,000 employees. There are more than 1 million vape users in Malaysia."
"If the local vape industry is regulated, we believe it can grow significantly to compete with other major industries," he said.