KUALA LUMPUR – A retail group is against the government’s plan to impose plain packaging on cigarettes, saying it would be a significant financial burden on privately owned sundry shops.
Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants’ Associations of Malaysia (FSGMAM) president, Hong Chee Meng, said if the Health Ministry went ahead with this plan as proposed, retailers would be required to make adjustments and incur additional costs.
“It also creates complexity to the sundry operations. As retail operators will have to make adjustments to cover the products and keep them out of sight, every time a consumer comes to purchase the products, they have to look for the products to transact.
“This will be made worse with plain-packaging requirements where each product will look the same in colour and shape, making it more complicated for retail operators to look for a specific brand or product whenever a consumer asks for it,” Hong said in a statement today.
The proposal for plain packaging for cigarettes has resurfaced, with Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni telling the Dewan Rakyat last month that the ministry was mulling these moves.
He said new regulations would also see plain packaging applied to vape products as well as regulate their shape.
Lukanisman said the ministry had prepared draft regulations and orders, which were currently under review, under the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024.
Hong said that FSGMAM had hoped for a meeting with the ministry before the regulations were imposed, calling the move drastic and not guaranteed to discourage smoking and vaping.
Hong said the ministry should take action against illegal cigarette operators, which was the real reason many Malaysians were still smoking, given that black market cigarettes were sold at a very cheap price and were easily available.
“We urge the government to hold meaningful dialogue and consultations with the retail operators to ensure all views are taken into consideration before any decision is being made,” Hong said, adding that FSGMAM had submitted letters to the ministry requesting a meeting and information on the proposal twice but had yet to receive a response.
“It is not right for retail operators who are the ‘frontliners’ and impacted the most with these proposed measures to have no details nor information on the implementation,” he added.
Hong stressed that the association was not against the ministry’s objective to discourage smoking and vaping, but the regulations must be sensible, effective and balanced to be enforced without significant impact on retail operations.
A proposal for plain packaging for cigarettes was first floated in 2016 and had also been mooted by Khairy Jamaluddin during his tenure as health minister. – April 24, 2024