The Malaysian Vape Chamber of Commerce (MVCC) said it hopes the government would emulate other countries such as United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand, which it said allowed the sale and use of vape liquid with nicotine as regulated consumer products.

“The industry calls for the government to introduce regulations to allow sale of vape liquid with nicotine where the nicotine level does not exceed 5% of the total liquid content and is sold as a regulated consumer product, consistent with other countries that also introduced regulations to regulate the vape industry,” said MVCC president Syed Azaudin Syed Ahmad.

He said calls to ban vape products did not take into account the industry’s contribution to the economy.

He claimed that the vape industry has created jobs while at the same time reduced the number of cigarette smokers.

He further said vaping-related deaths in the US were due to the use of substance found in marijuana.

“The incidents happened because of misuse of vape and not as stated by various parties who made confusing statements and frighten the public about the danger of vape nicotine,” said Syed Azaudin.

US health authorities recently reported 1,080 cases of lung injuries and 18 deaths related to e-liquids.

Following the US clampdown on vaping, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has called for a total ban on the sales of vape.

CAP said its studies showed out of one million vapers in the country, 10% are minors.