The vaping industry has become a booming industry in Malaysia, accounting for 42% of its tobacco market. Facing the hot emerging market, the IECIE Southeast Asia Online Summit specially invited Mr. Zain Azrul, Secretary General of the Malaysian MEVTA Association, as a guest to introduce the development scale of the local electronic atomization industry, tax policies and consumer purchasing behavior.
Malaysia E-Vaporisers and Tobacco Alternative Association (hereinafter referred to as "MEVTA") is a professional alliance and community for vaping users. Founded in March 2014, the MEVTA Association has been actively promoting electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and heated tobacco products. (HTPs) regulation.
In addition, the MEVTA Association is a standing working group member of the Malaysian Standards Department and is fully involved in ongoing discussions with the government and local authorities to draft guidelines for the vaping industry. It is worth noting that at the summit, Mr Zain said: “On April 5, the Malaysian Ministry of Consumer Affairs instructed the vaping industry to submit hardware devices to SIRIM, a testing, inspection and certification service provider in Malaysia to ensure It is safe for consumers to use all vaping devices. Once the product is tested, it will receive an approval certificate and can be sold to the public. Malaysia will implement certification enforcement on vaping devices on August 3, 2022.”
In this online forum, Mr. Zain introduced the development process of the electronic atomization industry in Malaysia. Since it was introduced to the local area by importers in 2010, the electronic atomization market has begun to grow vigorously, and products have gradually developed from import to local research and development. In 2015 In 2018, the sales of electronic atomization reached its peak.
In November 2021, when submitting the Budget 2022, the Malaysian Finance Minister announced that a GST of RM1.2 per milliliter would be imposed on vaping and nicotine-containing gel or vaping products. Mr. Zain pointed out that more policies and guidelines on the packaging and manufacturing of vaping products will be released by the Malaysian Ministry of Health in July this year, and only then can we see the development direction of the overall industry.
Currently, there are 3,300 active vaping companies in Malaysia, driving 15,000 jobs, including about 13,500 male workers and 1,500 female workers. The main employment places are vaping retail stores.
There are about 1.2 million users in Malaysia, 80% male and 20% female, aged between 20 and 50. The proportion of closed and open device users is comparable, but closed device users will show growth in 2021 due to movement restrictions during the pandemic. The products and equipment are mainly imported to Malaysia by local distributors, while most of the bottled atomizing liquids are produced and manufactured by local oil blenders.
