KUALA LUMPUR – The Attorney-General’s Chambers’ (AGC) advice on the unconstitutionality of the Generational Endgame (GEG) provision is the only reason why the government dropped the clause from the Health Ministry’s recently revised bill to regulate smoking and tobacco products.
No other considerations were taken into account for the decision to exclude the GEG provision from the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023 tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said.
“Constitutional arguments (raised by the AGC). That’s the only factor (behind the GEG’s dropping),” Zaliha said when questioned on the matter by reporters during a media briefing on the bill at Parliament today.
She said this amid claims by certain quarters, including her predecessor Khairy Jamaluddin, that the GEG’s exclusion from the bill is due to pressure on the government from tobacco and vape industries.
Previously, the AGC said that it has consistently been of the legal view that the GEG can be challenged in court as it violates Article 8 of the federal constitution on equality before the law by creating legal discrimination between someone born before the stipulated date, and those born on or after the date.
This was in response to Khairy’s assertions that its current opposition to the provision does not align with its views in 2022, when the bill was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat by the ex-minister under Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration.
Meanwhile, Zaliha said today that the government decided to push ahead with the bill without the GEG clause as there is an “enforcement gap” after nicotine was removed from the Poisons Act 1952.
The government removed the substance from the list of scheduled poisons in order to begin collecting excise duty on nicotine-containing vape liquids at 40 sen/ml, effective April 1 of this year.
“The removal of nicotine from the Poisons Act caused an enforcement gap on regulations for (products with) nicotine gel, especially vapes,” Zaliha said.
“We didn’t want this issue to prolong and because of the AGC’s views (on the GEG), we prioritised a bill that sets aside the GEG.”
She added that while the ministry is temporarily setting aside the GEG as they concentrate on formulating the revised bill, the situation will be under constant scrutiny, and a decision to reintroduce the provision will be based on ongoing monitoring and assessments.
The bill is scheduled to be debated in Parliament tomorrow. – November 28, 2023