Sundry Association: We are in the dark about GEG implementation
KUALA LUMPUR, 6 October 2023 – The Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Associations of Malaysia (FSGMAM) laments the Government’s decision to expedite the tabling of the revised Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023 in the upcoming Dewan Rakyat is uncalled for as no one is aware as to how the proposed Generational Endgame (GEG) will be implemented.
FSGMAM’s comments come following announcement that the Ministry of Health (MoH) is tabling the Bill that maintains the GEG policy in the Dewan Rakyat next Tuesday.
Hong Chee Meng, President of FSGMAM, said, “Our main concern is how will GEG be implemented. This was never discussed with any retail player and we are the frontliners to implement the proposal. We do not know if the retailers would be asked to check the NRIC of each adults born after 2007 in future and we also do not know if there will be a digital application like the MySejahtera app that each smokers born before 2007 must use each time they buy cigarettes or vape products.”
Sundry Association on GEG
Hong also said that the members of the association is concerned with the unclear implementation rules will lead to members being fined heavily since news also reported that the revised Bill includes higher fines for suppliers.
“There are no details on how this will be implemented and there are very high fines. This is going to cause a mess in the retail sector and each retailer will be at risk. Plus, what happens if there are those who uses fake ID or even paying a personal shopper to purchase the products. We aren’t sure that the retailers will be penalised in such circumstances too.”
“There was no briefing session with Ministry of Health or discussion conducted with the retail sector on all these. They are keeping us all in the dark on such important matters. We suggest that the GEG provisions be put on hold first until the Ministry comes up with a plan,” Hong concluded.
Hong also said that the Government should focus on simplifying the procedure to conduct businesses and not introducing more policies that are complexed.
“This GEG proposal is very complicated and it creates complexity for the business. With all the economic uncertainty, this is the time where businesses need to be supported by the Government when it comes to ease of doing business and not being imposed with burdensome procedures.”