Health think tank urges Putrajaya to clarify the legal status of such products following the government's decision to drop its appeal against a court ruling.
The Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy said allowing the High Court’s ruling to stand had put the legal status of nicotine liquids and gels, and consequently the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes containing them, in limbo.
Galen Centre CEO Azrul Khalib said it raised questions about how the Poisons Act and Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act would operate together, as the latter does not address the legal status of nicotine liquids and gels.
“Is the retail sale of vape and e-cigarettes containing liquid and gel nicotine now banned?
“The government previously argued that the liquid and gel nicotine exemption was needed to enable vape and e-cigarettes containing these substances to be legally taxed and regulated.
“The removal of the exemption arguably restricts and even annuls that previous legality,” he said in a statement.
Azrul urged the relevant ministries to provide clear guidance to all stakeholders in the matter, saying the country could not afford to go through another period of legal uncertainty over nicotine products.
He said Putrajaya should end the recreational retail sale of vapes and e-cigarettes containing nicotine for the sake of public health.
Last May, the Kuala Lumpur High Court struck down a ministerial order exempting liquid and gel nicotine from the poisons list, ruling that it was unlawful as it was made without proper consultation with the Poisons Board.
The court found that the exemption was driven primarily by economic considerations linked to the government’s plan to tax vape liquids containing nicotine. - FMT
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