00:00Former Health Minister Kairi Jamaluddin today said Malaysia could have passed a law
00:05banning the next generation from purchasing tobacco similar to legislation approved in the UK yesterday,
00:11if not for advice from the Attorney General.
00:14Kairi said he had prepared a bill for the purpose before leaving the Health Ministry in November 2022
00:20following the dissolution of Parliament ahead of the 15th general election.
00:24He added that Malaysia could have passed the law but the provision was dropped after the tobacco and vape industry
00:32allegedly convinced the Cabinet to oppose it and in his view, the Attorney General had wrongly advised the Cabinet.
00:38The Dewan Rakyat passed the control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023 in November 2023
00:45after tense debate from both sides of the aisle over the removal of the generational endgame provisions
00:50which would have prohibited the sale of tobacco and vape products to those born after 2007.
00:57Then-Health Minister Dr. Zalehan Mustafa said the government decided to remove the GEG provisions
01:03from the amended version of the bill as they were unconstitutional.
01:07However, she stressed that the Ministry had not scrapped the provisions
01:10and that they were merely being put aside for now
01:13and that the government might revive tabling the law if the need for it arose.
01:18Natasha Bust, FMT
01:20The Dewan Rakyat
01:20The Dewan Rakyat
01:20The Dewan Rakyat
01:21The Dewan Rakyat
01:21The Dewan Rakyat
01:21You
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