KUALA LUMPUR – The Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Associations of Malaysia (FSGMAM) has slammed the proposed ban on displaying smoking products and cigarettes in retail shops as part of the GEG bill, citing added financial pressures due to the rising cost of doing business.
The ban, which is part of the Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022, will cause sales of illegal products to flourish even more as they no longer have any competition from legal retailers, the group claimed.
FSGMAM president Hong Chee Meng said in a statement that the Health Ministry’s policies in the bill, also known as Generational End Game (GEG), were drawn up without consultation with the retail sector.
“We have huge concerns about how this GEG policy and ban on the display of products at retail will be implemented. There is neither a briefing nor any discussion with the retail sector on how the Health Ministry intends to implement this.
“The retail sector, especially small and medium traders like our members, are already finding it difficult to cope with the rising cost of doing business and inflationary pressures. This will definitely add a lot more complexity to our way of doing business moving forward.
“Another concern of ours will be the revenue stream from the sales of tobacco products. We do not advocate smoking, but from a business perspective, the product has demand, and it provides us with a steady flow of income, covering parts of our daily operational costs.”
Hong added that the organisation hopes that the government will reconsider the bill while conducting in-depth studies on how it would impact the retail sector before going ahead with it.
It was reported that Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa intends to table the bill in June.
The bill, which was tabled in Parliament in July last year by then health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, seeks to prohibit the sale of cigarettes, tobacco and vape products to anyone born on or after January 1, 2007. – The Vibes, May 19, 2023
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