This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 5, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Raids and seizures of e-cigarettes and vape products from retailers in Johor have been done according to the law, the Johor Baru City Council said, as more than a hundred vape outlets in the state closed in the new year, following a royal decree banning their sale.

The city council’s corporate and public communications director Abdul Aziz Ithnin said the local authority had enforced the decree under by-laws on licensing for trade, businesses and industries under which action can be taken against any premises operating without a valid sales licence.

He said the council had launched operations on Dec 15 and 21, during which compounds totalling RM2,500 were issued to five outlets.

“Besides the local authority, action against vape outlets has also involved other government agencies, such as the pharmaceutical division of the health ministry,” he said.

The council is also monitoring to see if vape traders are still operating despite the ban, which came into force last Friday.

The ban came about after Sultan of  Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar decreed that the sale of vape be banned starting this year.

The ban in Johor and Kelantan has been challenged by an association representing small and medium entrepreneurs, Ikhlas, which has filed an injunction in the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The group’s lawyer, Zulhazmi Zakaria, said a clear and final decision is needed as there is confusion over the federal and state positions on vape.

He said the federal government had not outlawed the smoking alternative, but local authorities in some states had gone ahead to ban it.

Zulhazmi also said the National Fatwa Council’s decree that declared vape “haram” (prohibited) could only be applied to Muslims. — The Malaysian Insider