KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — The sudden implementation of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) would be a heavy burden on thousands of coffee shop operators nationwide, said Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association (MSCSPGA).
Its president Wong Teu Hoon said the recent tweet by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad that the Act will officially come into effect on October 1 has shocked the coffee shop operators with a mere seven-day notice.
“If we understand correctly, we are given less than seven days to comply. Is that even possible?” Wong told reporters at the press conference here.
Wong claimed the government had recently called sundry shops and vape shop owners for a dialogue but coffee shop owners were left out.
“But within the next week, we were blindsided by the imposition of the new Act,” he said.
Wong said the association also didn’t receive any proper guidelines from the government on how businesses should comply with the new regulation.
This comes after the health minister posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on September 25 saying that the new law covers regulations related to the registration, sale, packaging and labelling of smoking products, along with restrictions on smoking in public places.
Although the Act was gazetted on February 2, it has not been enforced until now.
The new registration requires eateries to remove point-of-sale cigarette displays on their premises and update signages to meet new packaging and labelling guidelines by the MOH.
Citing a report by Deloitte and MSCSPGA, Petaling Jaya Coffeeshop Association president Keu Kok Meng said the new law would have a compliance cost of RM620 million in the first year with an additional RM277 million annually thereafter for coffee shop and retail outlet owners.
“The cost includes one-off refitting expenses such as modifying premises to comply with the new regulations, changes to layout, installation of compliant storage and display units to store the cigarettes out of sight and updating signages to meet new packaging and labelling requirements,” he said.
According to Keu, the new law could significantly affect the revenue of coffee shop operators as the sale of legal cigarettes accounts for approximately 20 per cent of their total revenue.
“With the rising cost of doing business, inflation and food prices, it is challenging for businesses to cope with further revenue losses and added complexities.”
Keu hoped the government would reconsider the new regulation and called for a deferment of the Act to a later date.
“Given the significant impact these policies may have on various stakeholders, we believe the government must engage in comprehensive dialogues with all affected parties to consider our concerns and work towards a balanced approach without unduly burdening our industry.
“We are also open to increasing the excise duty on the sale of cigarettes but allowing the point-of-sale display,” he said.
The press conference was attended by over 50 association members representing various states and cities nationwide.
