The Retail and Trade Brands Advocacy Group Malaysia (RTBA Malaysia) has expressed concern over the Cabinet's approval of the country's tobacco and e-cigarette bans at the upcoming Dewan Rakyat meeting.

Its managing director Malaysia Datuk Fazli Nordin said the Malaysian RTBA strongly opposes the ban as it is not a pragmatic solution to reduce smoking rates.

“Malaysia is a progressive country. Unfortunately, imposing a blanket ban and disenfranchising citizens will affect legitimate businesses and retailers. A ban of this nature will only benefit criminal groups by fueling the black market, be it tobacco or electronics Smoke," he said.

In addition, Fazli said that once illegal cigarette groups take over the market, the socio-economic costs will be unreasonably high.

He said the current illicit cigarette market, which accounts for 58.4%, has cost the government RM5 billion in tax revenue.

“The ban will send this number soaring. Furthermore, the ban on vaping products will only create a whole new source of revenue for criminal groups, further impacting Malaysia’s economy. While the Ministry of Health (MoH) has assured that enforcement will be stepped up, history has time and again Time and time again, these efforts have not worked.”

"It's naive to think this time will be different," he added.