Vape industry players have been given until April 30 to register vape manufacturing activities with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, says the Finance Ministry.
In a statement on Sunday (April 2), it said that registration will ensure comprehensive industry compliance with new excise duties for vape liquids and allow tax collection to run smoothly from May.
“Early registration within this specified period may avoid manufacturers from being charged a compound for the offence of late registration.
“This early registration will ensure comprehensive industry compliance and tax collection running smoothly by May 2023,” it said.
It also confirmed that the implementation of the excise duty on liquid or gel products containing nicotine used for electronic cigarettes and vapes began on Saturday (April 1).
The ministry said that through the gazettement of the Excise Duty (Amendment) Order 2023, an excise duty at the rate of RM0.40 will be charged per millilitre of liquid or gel containing nicotine used for electronic cigarettes and vape.
“With the implementation of this excise duty, the Government will continue to ensure that all regulation and control of excise duty goods by Customs can be improved to avoid leakages of national income.
“As promised in the Budget 2023 announcement, half of the excise duty revenue will be re-allocated to the Health Ministry in efforts to improve the quality of health services,” it said.
The ministry noted that with the removal of liquids or gels containing nicotine from the List of Poisons under the Poisons Act 1952, the Health Ministry will present a new Bill to regulate all smoking products including smoking materials which contain nicotine used for smoking purposes.
Earlier, former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin says although the previous government administration had intended to impose tax on vape liquid products, it did not exclude it from the schedule of the Poisons Act 1952.
He explained that it was because a new Act needed to be enacted first to ensure that any risks arising from it could be overcome if the exception was made.
“If there is no new Act in place, there will be a loophole in the law because vaping could not be controlled at all.
“That is why we brought the Smoking Control Bill. But it was not approved. With the legislation, nicotine products in it can be excluded because there is a law to control it,” he said in a tweet, yesterday.
The government on the same day gazetted an excise duty on vape liquids with nicotine content at a rate of 40 sen per mililitre (ml) in an effort to tax liquid or gel products containing nicotine.
The matter was stated through a notice issued on Friday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said a new bill to regulate cigarette products and devices will be introduced in the next parliamentary sitting.
She said the bill included provisions that ensured comprehensive control over nicotine in liquids and gels used in e-cigarettes and vapes.
