Govt drops appeal against ruling on liquid nicotine exemption
The Attorney-General’s Chambers issued a notice of discontinuance at the Court of Appeal today.
On May 15, a Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling declared the government's removal of liquid nicotine from the poisons list as irrational. Three public health groups, the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control, the Malaysian Green Lung Association, and Voice of the Children, had filed the lawsuit against the government's decision.
In her ruling, then-High Court Judge Aliza Sulaiman, now a Court of Appeal judge, found that the government's exemption order was irrational because it lacked proper consultation with the Poisons Board. Justice Aliza believed that the exemption was primarily driven by economic factors, such as the government's plan to tax vape liquids containing nicotine.
The judge stated that the exemption had created a legal gap, as there was no regulation for nicotine vape products during the period between the Poisons Board's consultation and the implementation of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, which took effect on October 1, 2024. The government has now withdrawn its appeal against the ruling.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
