Malaysia maintains ban on tobacco and vaping stalls despite industry pressure

The health ministry is sticking to its stance of banning tobacco and vaping stalls scheduled for April 2025, although retail groups have said the move would impose additional costs on small businesses and encourage illicit trade in the products in Malaysia.

Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the government was aware of the challenges and had already given retailers six months to adapt to the new provisions of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024.[1].

An easy measure to implement

In early October 2024, the Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Associations of Malaysia requested a delay in the implementation of the tobacco display ban, which is set to take effect from April 2025. It claimed that many retailers did not fully understand the guidelines and estimated that each store would incur costs of up to RM6,000 (€1,200) to change the layout of their windows to comply with Act 852, which came into effect on October 1.

The health minister said shops could quickly comply with the regulations by adding opaque screens to existing windows to comply with the ban on displaying products and that this did not require additional redevelopment. He added that the six-month educational period allowed was sufficient for the changes to be implemented.

The new law provides for a set of more restrictive measures against tobacco and vaping products (ban on vaping products that look like toys, ban on the sale of tobacco and vaping within a 40-metre radius of a school or university, as well as on markets or temporary stalls, extensions of smoke-free and vaping-free areas). This law is less restrictive than initially planned since the minister wanted to ban sales to anyone born after 2005 but the government reversed this measure following pressure from the tobacco industry[2].

The removal of stalls, a measure adopted by more and more countries

Several countries have already removed tobacco product displays from stores. Instead of being displayed, products are now stored in cabinets or storage racks out of sight of customers. Several studies show that product visibility is a factor in consumption.[3]The arrangement of products on shelves is part of advertising at the point of sale and is widely used by tobacco manufacturers in a restrictive regulatory context regarding tobacco advertising in more and more countries.

To date, around twenty countries have introduced a display ban in points of sale. Iceland was the first country to impose such a ban in 2001, followed by Thailand in 2005, Belarus in 2008, Ireland in 2009. More recently, Belgium[4] and the Netherlands[5] have committed to this measure and other countries are considering it (Scotland, United Kingdom). In France, the National Committee against Smoking (CNCT) has been recommending this measure for several years and it was included in the latest National Tobacco Control Program 2023-2027.

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[1] Milad Hassandarvish, Health Minister: Retailers can meet tobacco display ban by installing screens, Malay Mail, Published October 10, 2024, Accessed October 29, 2024

[2] Tobacco-free generation, Malaysia tightens regulations on tobacco and vaping products, published October 2, 2024, accessed October 29, 2024

[3] He Y, Shang C, Huang J, et al Global evidence on the effect of point-of-sale display bans on smoking prevalence Tobacco Control 2018;27:e98-e104.

[4] Tobacco-free generation, Belgium: Ban on tobacco and vaping product stalls in 2025, published on July 17, 2024, consulted on October 29, 2024

[5] Tobacco-free generation, Netherlands: Tobacco product stall ban comes into force, published on January 22, 2021, consulted on October 29, 2024