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KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur City Council Excise Licensing Board (DBKL) will meet to discuss alcohol licensing guidelines, including review of the minimum age allowed to purchase alcohol.
“The existing guideline limits the buyer’s age to 18 years or older. But the Food Regulation Act of 1985 states that alcohol can only be sold to people 21 and older.
“So the board, chaired by Datuk Jason Lau Beng Wei, will meet to review this. If the board decides that the minimum age should be 21 to ensure compliance with the Act, DBKL will issue a circular on this in January.” said Deputy Minister of Federal Territories Datuk Seri, Dr. Santhara Kumar, added that many countries set 21 years as the legal age to buy alcohol.
As for Chinese medical corridors, he said that they could continue to sell hard liquors until September 30, 2121.
“The board will collaborate with relevant stakeholders in this sector to review what they can sell starting in October,” Edmund said.
Lau said it would include a clearer definition of what constitutes “alcohol used for medicinal purposes”, commercial categorization and whether special shelving is needed.
Santhara and Lau spoke during a dialogue with representatives of the Federation of Malaya Federation of Associated Liquor Merchants Association (Alma), the Federation of Malaysian Chinese Trade Association (Femacca) and other stakeholders about alcohol licensing guidelines. by DBKL.
Santhara also read a full list of frequently asked questions, which he said would be posted on the DBKL website.
“The guideline is intended to regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol and to ensure public safety,” he said.
“What is clear is that as of December 15, the manufacture, sale and consumption of samsu (cheap liquor) is completely prohibited in Kuala Lumpur.
“According to DBKL, some 2,400 liquor licenses have been issued and the board is studying processing about 1,100 applications that have been pending for 14 months.”
Santhara assured that the board will continue to engage stakeholders, including convenience store operators, to further refine the guidelines.
Femacca Chairman Lum Kim Soong said they had requested that related trade associations be invited to relevant meetings to give their input.
“Our members are concerned about how this measure will affect their business, so we hope the board will provide a clearer definition of what Chinese medical salons can do.”
Alma President Kenny Yeo said its members have always complied with regulations set by authorities on the sale of alcohol, such as the time limit, minimum age and product display.
“We hope that subsequent meetings will also address issues such as people using social media or online shopping platforms to buy alcohol and thus bypassing conventional shopping methods and shops,” he said.
In the meantime, representatives from the convenience store and miscellaneous store sectors were encouraged to meet, troubleshoot, and provide solutions on how the guideline affects their industry to the board.
DBKL announced last month (November 2020) that it would impose a ban on the sale of hard liquor in convenience stores, miscellaneous stores, and Chinese medicine aisles effective October 1 next year.
However, traditional medicine pure or mixed liquors will be exempt from this rule and the sale of beer will continue to be allowed in these places from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and beer must be placed separately from other beverages.
Under the new guideline, the other companies authorized to sell liquor cannot be located in front of police stations, places of worship, schools and hospitals.
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