7 April 2025
7 April 2025: World Health Day’s theme, “Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures” is optimistic but the reality for the #1 health issue in the ASEAN region – tobacco use – is riddled with delays. Several countries in the ASEAN have succumbed to tobacco industry lobbying and have delayed implementation of effective tobacco control measures to protect public health.
The Lao government introduced standardized packaging laws which require pictorial health warnings to cover 75% of the tobacco pack, to have come into force by 5 December 2024. However, an inspection last December revealed that cigarette packs sold at retail outlets failed to meet the new requirements. Over 80 percent of the local cigarette market is controlled by Lao Tobacco Co, a joint venture between Imperial Brands and the government. Imperial has been selling its cigarettes with standardized packaging in its home country, the U.K., since 2016.
The government has given a further 4 months extension, however, come 1 April, the tobacco industry was still not fully compliant. Lao PDR has over 800,000 smokers and at least 6,700 annual deaths from tobacco-related diseases. The country also incurs annual healthcare costs and economic losses exceeding LAK 3.6 trillion (USD 164.2 million) due to tobacco use.
Figure 1: Non-compliance of standardized packaging in Lao PDR
In Myanmar, tobacco companies enjoyed more than 30 months of delay to implement standardized packaging, and on 1 April 2025 when the final extended deadline given by the government came, they still failed to comply.
Myanmar has over 17 million smokers and faces a severe tobacco epidemic with 60,000 deaths annually due to tobacco use, and an estimated MMK 2.62 trillion (USD 1.92 billion) in healthcare costs.
Malaysia passed the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 (Act 852) which was gazette on 1 February 2024, with a staggered implementation. The new law includes provision for pack display ban and standardized packaging. The ban on tobacco pack display at retail outlets was set to take effect on 1 April 2025, giving retailers 14 months to prepare.
However, the implementation was postponed to October 2025 after the industry lobbied and retailers complaining compliance is costly. All these years the tobacco industry has been providing incentives to retailers such as sponsoring tobacco display shelves (Figure 2). On 25 March, one week before the deadline banning pack display in Malaysia, the MOH issued a statement saying they will continue to work with the shopkeepers to ensure that display shelf is made according to its specifications and compliance is closely monitored. According to the Ministry, there are 51,000 retailers in the country. Why would the MOH spend their limited resources helping retailers to ensure their display cabinets comply with the law?
Figure 2: Pack display in retail outlet in Malaysia
Photo courtesy: Consumers Association of Penang
Whether standardized packaging of tobacco products scheduled for implementation in October 2025, i.e. 20 months after gazettement, will proceed as planned, or will the government succumb to industry lobby and derail the implementation, is left to be seen.
While the tobacco industry and retailers are the only beneficiaries of the delay, the Malaysian government and the public are footing the RM8.7 billion bill to treat three major tobacco related diseases.
Standardized packaging of tobacco in Singapore became operational in 2020. The Singapore government amended their Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act in March 2019 and published the law on 1 July 2019 which went into operation on 1 July 2020, i.e. 12 months after it was gazetted. This gave the tobacco industry – same companies operating in Malaysia – just 12 months to comply.
Table 3: Top five transnational tobacco companies*
| Stick sales** | Revenue (US$) | |
| BAT | 605 billion | 34.06 billion |
| PMI | 621 billion | 31.76 billion |
| Imperial Brands Plc | 21.57 billion | |
| Japan Tobacco Inc | 519.4 billion | 20.23 billion |
| KT&G Corp | 14.8 billion | 4.49 billion |
*Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/259204/leading-10-tobacco-companies-worldwide-based-on-net-sales/ ; excludes the Chinese tobacco monopoly
**Source: https://www.tobaccoasia.com/features/combustibles-not-burnt-out-yet/
Transnational tobacco companies are minting billions in profits (Table 3). The tobacco industry describes its products as “fast moving consumer goods” (FMCG), meaning they have a very efficient production, distribution and sales system of the products which fly off the shelves at retail outlets. Delays in implementing standardized packaging and display ban is just a delay tactic of non-compliance because these measures are effective to reduce consumption. It is up to governments if they want to allow themselves to succumb to industry pressure.
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