Why pass liquor licence buck to states, Guan Eng asks govt

Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng said the federal government must explain its move to pass the buck to state governments on the liquor licensing conditions for coffee shops and restaurants.

This was after Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz maintained the federal government had no jurisdiction on the matter and it was up to state governments to decide.

However, Lim pointed out that states did not impose the RM1,300 licensing condition in the past because the federal government had decided against enforcing it.

"Previously, this enforcement of licensing was not delegated to the respective state governments but postponed in a directive by the Customs Department on Sept 20, 1993.

"The coffee shops and restaurant operators throughout the country had no problems when I was finance minister because I had continued this postponement.

"In other words, not only coffee shops and restaurants need not apply for a licence to sell beer and alcoholic drinks but the respective state licensing authorities do not have the powers to decide whether to impose the licence," Lim said in a statement.

Lim Guan Eng

Lim said this after MCA president Wee Ka Siong lashed out at the Bagan MP, accusing him of harping on the issue even though it had been resolved.

"What do you want, Guan Eng? The issue is that on Aug 16, 2021, Customs said they will start requiring coffee shops and restaurants to pay RM1,300 to sell beer and alcoholic drinks.

"DAP then made a big issue of this to instigate the non-Malays. Now that Customs has issued a letter stating they will reverse this decision and will not be proceeding with this requirement.

"You are still unhappy but accuse me of lying because this decades-old requirement was not outright cancelled?" Wee said in a Facebook statement.

Wee had on Dec 7 announced that the decision by the Customs Department to lift the postponement of liquor licences for coffee shops and restaurants has been reversed after he reached out to Zafrul.

However, confusion arose after Zafrul told the Dewan Rakyat that there was no revocation as the licensing power remained with the respective state.

Wee shared a letter from the Customs Department informing state authorities that they no longer have to implement the liquor licensing condition on coffee shops and restaurants.

Wee said Lim, likewise, did not outright revoke the liquor licensing condition when he was finance minister and had merely continued with the postponement.

However, Lim questioned if state governments will now implement the licence on their own despite the reinstatement of the postponement, in light of Zafrul's statement.

"Wee must explain what type of revocation he is talking about when state governments can now decide to impose licensing when they did not have such powers previously," he said. - Mkini