MEVTA urges govt to allow sale of nicotine vape in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia E-Vaporizers and Tobbaco Alternative Association (MEVTA) urged the government to allow sale of nicotine vape in Malaysia and regulate the product following the control done in United Kingdom (UK).

The non-government organisation that represents the vape industry in Malaysia said the recent enforcement action taken by the Ministry of Health Malaysia has impacted industry players with products worth millions of ringgit were seized in the country.

MEVTA president Rizani Zakaria said the organisation has urged all impacted parties to cooperate with the authorities , noting that the government was still studying the new law for the vape industry.

“The industry also calls for the government to consider allow and regulate sale of nicotine vape in Malaysia such as those implemented in the UK.

“This includes to allow and regulate sale of nicotine vape following the regulations made in the UK where the regulations introduced in UK have proven their controls and measures are effective to stop sale and usage by those underage and there was not any similar incident to those in the United States such as abuse of product linked to drugs,” said Rizani in a statement on Saturday.

MEVTA recently had a session with industry players with more than 200 vape traders from all over the country who are concerned with the direction and the government’s views on vape industry.

He said the organisation supported the statement made by the Deputy Health Minister, Dr Lee Boon Chye earlier this week to study the manner nicotine vape product is controlled in the UK.

“We hope the manner the control on nicotine vape is done in UK will be considered and implemented here in Malaysia and the industry is ready to follow after the regulations including licensing, taxation and product standards in the regulations,” he added.

He said the industry also urge the Special Committee on Vape will involve MEVTA as a representative from the industry to discuss together the regulations that will be introduced.

“Vape industry in Malaysia is being developed by many local youth entrepreneurs where 95 per cent of them are made up of Bumiputera entrepreneurs in Malaysia.

“Many have invested in the vape industry and develop their businesses that have contributed to the country’s revenue and economy,” he said.

He said MEVTA believes with the introduction of controls and measures such as those in UK in this country, it will help to contribute to the Malaysian economy and enable local youth entrepreneurs to create income and job opportunities.