Dewan Rakyat passes Control of Smoking Products and Public Health Bill

KUALA LUMPUR - The Dewan Rakyat today passed the Control of Smoking Products and Public Health Bill with more votes in favour.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul announced this after the second reading of the bill by the Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

Before that, 27 Members of Parliaments took part in the two-day debate with the majority insisting that the provisions related to the Generational Endgame (GEG) which were dropped, be re-included into the bill.

The Control of Smoking Products and Public Health Bills was retabled for the first reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, among other things dropping provisions related to the ban on the sale of tobacco products and cigarettes as well as the ban on smoking for people born on Jan 1, 2007 onwards.

The withdrawn bill was presented for the first reading on June 12 before being referred to the Parliament’s Special Select Committee on Health.

The decision of the Health Ministry to amend the GEG terms to minors in was based on the advice from the Attorney-General (AG) Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh.

Dr Zaliha said that the decision was made after the recommendation made by the AG regarding the provision of the GEG could be challenged based on Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which was about the right to equality.

Following the decision to drop the GEG provision, Zaliha and the government received criticism from various quarters.