Two Malaysian lawmakers are demanding an immediate ban on recreational nicotine vape sales and refunds of more than RM354 million in excise duties after the government abandoned an appeal that had kept the products’ legal status unsettled.
Lee Chean Chung (Petaling Jaya MP) and Ahmad Yunus Hairi (Kuala Langat MP) made the demands after the government withdrew its appeal of a May High Court ruling that invalidated the 2023 removal of liquid nicotine from Malaysia’s Poisons List. Lee also called on the Finance Ministry to stop collecting the vape excise tax immediately, according to statements reported Sept. 2 by CodeBlue.
The Aug. 18 withdrawal left the High Court judgment standing. In an Aug. 20 statement, the Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy said the court had found the 2023 exemption irrational and "made without proper or adequate consultation with the Poisons Board." The Malaysian Pharmacists Society also welcomed the appeal withdrawal, while calling for clear and consistent regulation.
The dispute began in 2023, when then-Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa exempted nicotine liquids and gels used in vaping products from the Poisons List. The move cleared the way for taxation. An April 2023 Finance Ministry announcement imposed an excise duty of RM0.40 per milliliter beginning April 1 and described the Malaysian vape market as worth more than RM2 billion.
With the exemption now nullified, nicotine again falls under the Poisons Act framework. The Poisons Act restricts retail sale of Group C poisons to specified medical and pharmacy channels. That creates an obvious conflict with a commercial vape market that has operated openly under the newer Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024.
That conflict is why the MPs are pressing the government to choose a direction instead of leaving retailers and consumers in legal limbo. Lee said the Finance Ministry should refund the excise duties collected since 2023 because the government had previously argued that the tax depended on liquid nicotine being exempt from poison controls.
But the government has not yet publicly resolved how the Poisons Act and the 2024 smoking-products law are supposed to work together. Until it does, Malaysia's shifting vape laws have produced the unusual spectacle of a regulated and taxed nicotine-vape market resting on a legal foundation that a court has already struck down.
Learn whether caffeine pouches are safe, including potential side effects, caffeine limits, oral health risks, and who should avoid them.
Because of declining cigarette sales, state governments in the U.S. and countries around the world are looking to vapor products as a new source of tax revenue.
A list of vaping product flavor bans and online sales bans in the United States, and sales and possession bans in other countries.
A closer look at PouchPoint, an online nicotine pouch store offering competitive pricing, wide selection, and a smooth shopping experience.
