Dzulkefly told the Dewan Rakyat that the decision to drop the generational end game provision in the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill was unrelated to such lobbying.“The deputy minister’s facts are wrong and his speech was wrong … We wanted the GEG to be included, however, a constitutional issue was raised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers ,” said Dzulkefly.
“I think it is quite inappropriate this meant that the industry representatives and lobbyists influenced the government and the Cabinet,” he said. “That’s wrong.”Dzulkefly was responding to Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who asked whether the GEG provision was dropped due to pressure from the vape industry.
First tabled by then health minister Khairy Jamaluddin in July 2022, the bill was held up by resistance from several MPs over its content. At the time, the health parliamentary committee was asked to address these issues. The GEG components were eventually removed from the tobacco bill on grounds that they were unconstitutional, though then health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said the government might “bring it back” in the future if needed.