Malaysia abandons anti-smoking policy after New Zealand

In Malaysia, the government has decided to reverse its proposal to ban the sale of tobacco and e-cigarettes to anyone born in 2007 or later. While the reason for this reversal was justified on the grounds of the measure's potential unconstitutionality, many voices have been raised to denounce this government retreat in the face of lobbying by the tobacco industry.

At the end of November, the new New Zealand government announced that it could abandon the implementation of several public health policies, such as banning tobacco sales to anyone born in 2009 or later, restricting the number of points of sale, or reducing the nicotine content of tobacco products. A few days after this potential U-turn, it was the Malaysian government's turn to announce that the policy of banning tobacco sales to anyone born in 2007 or later would not be retained. With Malaysia still having five million smokers, such a decision could undermine the country's goal of achieving a tobacco-free generation by 2045.[1].

Sign of strong tobacco industry lobbying in Malaysia

Malaysian Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa justified the removal of the provision by arguing that it contained legal loopholes that could be challenged in court. For its part, the NGO Papisma called the government's decision "the worst public health setback in Malaysia's history," while urging "citizens to express their disagreement with the bill in Parliament through social media and by communicating with their respective MPs." A similar diagnosis is shared by a section of Malaysia's political class, starting with Khairy Jamaluddin, the country's former health minister and author of the first version of the bill, who called the government's justification for the measure's potential unconstitutionality a "bogus excuse," directly attributing this reversal to the tobacco industry's influential power. Similarly, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, which is the largest political group in parliament by number of seats (222), has also strongly criticised the government's lack of will. In a statement, the deputy chairman of the party's health committee lamented that Malaysia is missing the opportunity to "end the new generation's nicotine addiction".

A very profitable turnaround for British American Tobacco's stock

At the same time, the announcement of the abandonment of the initial bill to ban the sale of tobacco products and vaping to anyone born in 2007 or later resulted in a 4.8% increase in the value of British American Tobacco shares on the local stock exchange. Such a rebound could underline that the profitability of the tobacco industry is inversely proportional to the ability of governments to implement protective regulations, particularly for the younger generations, who are a priority target for manufacturers. In other words, this situation seems to illustrate a postulate formulated by the Framework Convention of the World Health Organization, establishing the existence of an irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the tobacco industry and those of public health.

Keywords: Malaysia, sales ban, British American Tobacco

FT

[1] South China Morning Post, Malaysia's U-turn on smoking ban slammed by doctors as 'worst public health setback', 11/29/2023, (accessed 12/04/2023)