60 NGOs in Malaysia Jointly Support Kelantan's E-cigarette Regulation

Key Points:

·The Terengganu state government in Malaysia plans to strengthen regulation on e-cigarettes through local authorities starting from August 1, 2025. 

·Sixty Malaysian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have come together to support this initiative, which includes banning the issuance of sales permits, prohibiting advertising and government event sponsorships. 

·The background for this move includes the association of e-cigarettes with drug abuse, the rise in EVALI cases and the burden on public health. 

·The Terengganu state government also plans to provide a three-month transition period and entrepreneurship training for e-cigarette industry personnel. 

According to a report by Harakahdaily on April 29th, a statement jointly released by 60 national NGOs in Malaysia shows the collective support for the state government of Terengganu to enhance regulation on e-cigarettes. This policy will be implemented by local authorities and is scheduled to take effect from August 1, 2025.

According to the statement, the new measures include: banning local governments from issuing e-cigarette sales licenses; Enforcing enforcement through subsidiary regulations under the 1976 Local Government (Act 171); Refusing any form of sponsorship from e-cigarette companies for state government events; Completely banning e-cigarette-related advertisements.

The organization stated that, given the increasingly worrisome situation, it is reasonable to expand the scope of local government bans. They pointed out that e-cigarettes are closely linked to drug abuse, synthetic drug trafficking, deadly health risks (such as EVALI) and high medical costs.

The group welcomed the Perak State Government's initiative to provide entrepreneurship transformation training for affected businesses and to offer a three-month grace period for enforcement. They called for collective efforts from all sectors in Malaysia to combat the threat of e-cigarettes.