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 supported three public health groups, declaring the government's decision to exclude liquid nicotine from the poisons list as irrational. The Malaysian government has since dropped its appeal against this decision. The Attorney-General's Chambers notified the Court of Appeal that it had withdrawn its appeal, with no mention of costs. The Health Minister and the government expressed their desire to discontinue the appeal. FMT has contacted the Health Ministry for further comment.
The High Court's ruling on May 15, delivered by Justice Aliza Sulaiman, found the government's exemption irrational as it was made without proper consultation of the Poisons Board. The suit was filed by the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control, Malaysian Green Lung Association, and Voice of the Children. Justice Sulaiman, now a Court of Appeal judge, stated that the exemption was primarily driven by economic factors related to the government's plan to tax vape liquids containing nicotine.
She believed that Parliament never intended for nicotine vape products to remain unregulated during the period between the decision to exempt liquid nicotine from the poisons list and the introduction of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 on October 1, 2024.
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.
