Candy Cigarettes Are Now Banned By Name. Section 11 Of Act 852 Covers "Imitation Of Tobacco Product".

If you grew up in Malaysia in the 80s or 90s you probably remember candy cigarettes — chalky white sticks with a red tip, sold in a flip-top box, and the "ghost smoke" ones you could puff powdered sugar out of.

They are now caught by name.

Section 11(1) of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852):

"No person shall sell any imitation of tobacco product…"

That is the provision. Not a general food regulation, not a labelling rule — a specific prohibition on selling anything made to imitate a tobacco product.

Act 852 also prohibits the advertisement of imitation tobacco products, separately from the ban on advertising the real thing.

What Act 852 actually is

The Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) replaced two decades of tobacco control that had previously sat under regulations made under the Food Act.

The timeline:

It was described by the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy as a "genuine game changer moment" in Malaysia's struggle against smoking, vaping and nicotine addiction — two decades after the 2004 tobacco control regulations under the Food Act.

Crucially, vapes and e-cigarettes are now treated the same as cigarettes. That closed a gap created in March 2023, when liquid nicotine was removed from the Poisons Act — a change that allowed taxation but also legalised nicotine vapes and e-cigarettes for all ages, including minors, for roughly 18 months.

The child-protection provisions

Three provisions work together:

Note s.17 carefully. It creates an offence committed by the under-18 user, not just by the seller. That is a deliberate design choice and a contested one.

SUHAKAM's Children's Commissioner has called for strict enforcement of s.13, noting that the success of these prohibitive measures relies on earnest and serious implementation.

Enforcement priorities

The Health Minister announced enforcement in two phases — immediate enforcement and educational enforcement.

Three aspects were immediately enforced, and the first is the relevant one here:

1. the sale of smoking products that attract the attention of children and teenagers
2. the advertising of smoking products
3. the places where their sale is prohibited

So products designed to appeal to children were the priority category from day one.

The wider retail changes under the Control of Sale Regulations 2024:

• Retail display ban — tobacco products and vapes cannot be displayed outside licensed specialised stores, and within those stores must be kept in closed cabinets. In force for convenience stores from 1 April 2025
• Ban on online sales
• Ban on vending machine sales

These regulations fall under the Health Minister's authority without needing parliamentary approval, which is why they moved faster than the Act itself.

Enforcement powers

Act 852 gives authorised officers substantial powers, including:

• Power to open packages and examine tobacco products, smoking substances or substitute tobacco products at any place reasonably believed to be used for manufacturing, packaging, storage, delivery, distribution or sale (s.30)
• Access to recorded information and computerised data
• Seizure of things
• Temporary return of conveyance
• Compounding of offences under dedicated regulations

Registration is also required. No tobacco product, smoking substance or substitute tobacco product may be sold or displayed for sale unless it complies with prescribed registration requirements.

What this means practically

If you sell confectionery:

• Check your stock for anything shaped, packaged or marketed to imitate a cigarette, cigar, pipe or vape. Section 11 does not require the product to contain tobacco — imitation is the offence.
• The same applies to toys and novelty items in that form.
• Do not advertise them either — that is separately prohibited.

If you sell tobacco or vape products:

• Display must be inside a licensed specialised store, in closed cabinets.
• No online sales. No vending machines.
• Products must be registered and comply with packaging and labelling regulations.
• Sale to under-18s is an offence under s.13.

If you are a parent:

• Imitation products should not be on sale. If you see them, they can be reported to MOH.
• Note that under s.17 a child who uses tobacco or substitute tobacco products commits an offence themselves.

Where this is uncertain

We could not verify the specific penalties attaching to s.11, s.13 or s.17 of Act 852, and have not stated figures. Check the Act at agc.gov.my or MOH's tobacco control materials.

We also could not verify whether any product-specific enforcement action has been taken over candy cigarettes since Act 852 came into force. The provision exists; the enforcement record we could not establish.