KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): The much-anticipated debate on the proposed Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022 failed to take place on Thursday (Oct 6). This was because there were three other bills in queue ahead of the Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022, and they needed to be debated first.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin tabled a motion that the Dewan Rakyat would not adjourn until the three bills are debated and decided.
The three bills are the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill 2022, the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (Amendment) Bill 2022, and the Land Public Transport (Amendment) Bill 2022.
"The House will adjourn after that until 4pm on Friday (Oct 7)," she said.
The motion was then supported by Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali and passed by a voice vote.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was expected to table the Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022, also known as the generational endgame law, for the second reading on the fourth day of the Parliament session.
The Dewan Rakyat on Aug 2 approved the proposal for the Bill to be referred to the parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) responsible for the proposed legislation, which comprises 13 members of Parliament from the ruling government and the opposition bloc, to make recommendations towards fine-tuning the Bill.
At the heart of the proposed Bill is a proposal to prohibit the sale and use of any form of smoking devices including electronic cigarettes and vapes to individuals born in and after 2007.
Khairy, who is also the chairman of the PSSC, was expected to table a report containing the proposed improvements to the bill. On Wednesday (Oct 5), the PSSC recommended that possession of smoking products be dropped as an offence for those born in and after 2007, while maintaining the smoking offence.
The current Dewan Rakyat sitting will last for 32 days until Nov 29.
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