KUALA LUMPUR (April 24): The potential imposition of plain packaging for cigarette and vape products, together with a ban on the display of such products in stores, will incur a "huge financial burden" on privately owned sundry shops, according to the Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Associations of Malaysia (FSGMAM).

Such measures also would not help achieve the government's objective of discouraging smoking and vaping, but instead create complexity for businesses, said the federation in a statement on Wednesday, as it expressed deep concern about recent discussions on the potential measures to be taken by the government.

In March, former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin proposed that the Ministry of Health (MOH) ban the display of cigarettes in shops and implement plain packaging for cigarettes, after the government dropped the provision for the tobacco and vape generational endgame in the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 that was passed in November last year.

Shortly after, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni told the Dewan Rakyat that the MOH was considering imposing plain packaging on cigarettes, as well as standard packaging for vape products. The ministry was also considering controls on vape flavours that are increasing in the market, and which may attract children or people who want to take up vaping.

Lukanisman also said the MOH was seeking views from other ministries and the industry on the planned regulations related to vape control under the Act. "The MOH has prepared draft regulations and orders under the Act that are now at the stage of legal review," he was reported as saying.

"A display ban will require retailers to incur costs to make adjustments in shop to comply with the regulations. This is going to be a huge additional financial burden for us, and we cannot afford to bear the cost. It also creates complexity for sundry operations. As retail operators will have to make adjustments to cover the products and keep them out of sight, this means every time a consumer comes to purchase the products, retail operators would have to look for the products to transact," said FSGMAM president Hong Chee Meng in the statement on Wednesday.

“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,” he said.

The federation thinks the ministry should first tackle the issue of illegal cigarettes to reduce smoking rates. “Instead of coming up with the idea of banning the display of products and introducing plain packaging requirements, the MOH should take stern action against illegal cigarette operators to reduce smoking rates. The real reason why many Malaysians are still smoking is because of illegal cigarettes that are sold at a very cheap price and easily available," Hong added.

The FSGMAM views the proposed regulations as "drastic" and pose serious challenges to its members, who are already facing unprecedented economic pressures.

“We have already written twice to the MOH to request meetings and information related to the proposed measures. But to date, we have not received any notice from the ministry to hold any discussions. It is not right for retail operators who are the frontliners and impacted the most by these proposed measures to have no details nor information on the implementation,” Hong said.

In addition to the FSGMAM, the plan also drew criticism from the Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association, citing potential initial costs of up to RM620 million for retailers. An extra RM277 million annually would also be required by retailers to adhere to the regulations, according to the association.