Kuching store owner fined RM60,000 for selling tobacco products near school

KUCHING (Jan 21): A convenience store owner was fined a total of RM60,000 by the Magistrates’ Court here on Monday for selling tobacco products within 40 metres of an educational institution, and selling smoking products that were not packaged and labelled in accordance with the law.

Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan imposed a fine of RM30,000 for each offence after the company director, represented by the premises manager, pleaded guilty when the charges were read out to him.

For the first charge, the company was found to have sold smoking products within 40 metres of an educational institution, an offence under Section 10(1) of the Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 read together with Regulation 4(b) of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health (Control of Sale) Regulations 2024.

For the second charge, the company was found selling smoking products that were not packaged and labelled in accordance with the law, an offence under Section 10(1) read together with Section 15(1) of the Act and Regulation 8(1)(b) of the Regulations.

Both offences carry a fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000 or imprisonment of up to two years or both upon conviction.

The prosecution was conducted by Mohd Fairos Ibrahim from the Kuching Division Health Office, while the company representative was not represented by counsel.

During mitigation, the company representative appealed for a lighter sentence, stating that it was the company’s first offence and assuring the court that it would not repeat the same mistake.

In response, the prosecution said the sale of tobacco products, smoking materials or tobacco substitutes near schools or educational institutions was a serious matter as it could encourage minors to purchase such products and expose schoolchildren to smoking.

The prosecution of the Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 aims to protect public health, particularly among youths, and to prevent young people from picking up the habit.