“The industry is in a state of uncertainty due to the ministry’s failure to prioritise the implementation of vape regulations,” said association president Adzwan Ab Manas in a statement.

He said a new excise duty on vape liquids with nicotine, which was supposed to take effect in January, had been delayed for four months with no clear view as to when it would be implemented.

Under Budget 2022, the government had announced that an excise duty of RM1.20 per millilitre (ml) of nicotine vape liquid would be imposed.

Adzwan said MRECA estimated that the delay had resulted in the government losing more than RM750 million a year in tax revenue.

He said the ministry’s proposal to ban the sale of vape products along with (electronic) cigarettes was “akin to declaring a war” on the vape industry that had 3,000 local entrepreneurs and 15,000 employees.

Adzwan said the ministry should consider the potential of vape products to help smokers quit the habit instead of putting vape and cigarettes in the same category so as to prevent their sale.

Under the government’s Generation End Game proposal, the bill to prohibit the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to those born after 2005 will be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat in July.

This prohibition will include vapes and e-cigarettes.