According to foreign reports, the Malaysian government has postponed the introduction of new taxes on nicotine e-liquids after consumers and the industry complained about the high proposed tax rate.

The plan also triples the existing zero-nicotine e-liquid tax. The e-cigarette tax was originally scheduled to go into effect on January 1.

The delay was announced earlier this week by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department without giving a reason for the delay.

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz announced on October 29 that the government's 2022 budget includes a new tax on vaping products containing nicotine - currently illegal in consumer products sold in Malaysia.

A few days ago, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin informed the World Health Organization that the country will legalize and regulate vaping products to prevent youth exposure.

But the details of the new tax proved problematic. The planned tax rate is 1.20 Malaysian Ringgits (RM) per milliliter, or approximately US$0.29/ml.

Under the new plan, the current tax of RM0.40 on zero-nicotine e-liquid will be tripled.

Such a high tax rate — about $17 for a 60ml bottle of e-liquid — would force legitimate sellers to compete with much cheaper black market products. "In Malaysia, tax increases will make vaping products more expensive than tobacco cigarettes," Rizani Zakaria, president of the Malaysian Vaping Industry Advocacy Group (MVIA), told the New Straits Times.

E-cigarette advocates in Malaysia have opposed high taxes, and at least one medical group has urged the government to adopt a tax that acknowledges the relative risks of vaping and smoking.

"The level of taxation on tobacco harm reduction (THR) products in Malaysia must remain proportionate to risk, benchmarked against high-risk products such as cigarettes," Steven Chow, president of the Malaysian Federation of Private Healthcare Practitioners Associations, said in a statement last November. .

Malaysia currently bans the sale of nicotine for non-medical purposes, and police raids occasionally disrupt the country's booming e-cigarette trade. Lifting the current ban and regulating nicotine vaping would make Malaysia one of the few Southeast Asian countries without a ban on vaping.

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