FOMCA in the News | News Staits Times - Ban on 14-stick packs hailed |
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| Written by admin |
| Tuesday, 08 June 2010 01:59 |
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KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: A resounding yes. This was the general response from the public and cigarette manufacturers on the Health Ministry's decision to ban the sale of 14-stick cigarette packs with immediate effect. "This decision sends a strong signal that Malaysia is committed to maintaining a transparent and predictable environment for foreign investors to plan for the future of their businesses," Philip Morris Malaysia director of corporate affairs, Richard James, said yesterday. Philip Morris Malaysia is an affiliate of Philip Morris International Inc (PMI), based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The corporation is a manufacturer of tobacco products, including Marlboro & L&M cigarettes, both for export and for sale locally. Director of corporate affairs and communications of JT International Berhad (JTI Malaysia) Shareen Rahmat said the move was welcomed. "It provides business clarity and JTI Malaysia is encouraged by the government's constructive and open stance in taking into consideration the views of all quarters." She said the company was looking forward to an official notification by the Health Ministry. "Upon receipt of the notification, we will comply with it with immediate effect," she said. Malaysian Thoracic Society president Professor Dr Roslina Abdul Manap said the move would help discourage people, especially teenagers, from smoking. "This initiative will help slow down the number of smokers, especially teenagers, and, indirectly prevent them from picking up the bad habit," she said. Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) secretary-general Muhammad Shaani Abdullah, said Fomca was all for it. The move would "put a dent in their pockets", thus restraining them from continuing their smoking habit. "This is one of the effective measures to bring tobacco usage under control as laid out in the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control," Shaani said. Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai told the New Straits Times on Thursday that the cabinet had banned the sale of the 14-stick pack with immediate effect. The cabinet, at its weekly meeting on Wednesday, agreed that the ban take effect on June 1. Recently, a news portal reported that the government would delay the implementation of the ban from June 1 to Jan 1 next year. This had caused an uproar among cigarette manufacturers who had stopped producing the medium-sized pack. Liow had said the cabinet was concerned with the current situation where the number of people, especially teenagers, women and girls, who smoked continued to soar. While enforcing the ban, Liow said a study on the sale of illicit cigarettes would be carried out. |