Last updated: September 18, 2019
Enforcement Authorities
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
Section 18 of the Tobacco Products Act authorizes the Minister, by notice in the Gazette, to appoint any public officer or designate any body as an inspector. Similarly, the Tobacco Products Regulations specify that the Minister shall appoint a suitable and qualified person to be inspector, and then set out qualifying and disqualifying criteria. However, to date, the Minister has not yet appointed an inspector.
There is no clear duty to enforce the law. Section 20 of the law states that, if an inspector finds non-compliance with Sec. 12, the inspector “may” order an employer or occupier of a public place to carry out an order. To align with FCTC Art. 8 and the FCTC Art. 8 Guidelines, the law should clearly designate an enforcement agency and impose a duty to enforce upon that agency.
