On December 9, 2024, the Department of Food Safety and Quality (DFSQ) of the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, issued a draft amendment to the Food Act 1983 (Bill No. 281) for public consultation until January 8, 2025 for comments. The draft amendment to the Act aims to strengthen and expand food safety and quality control in the food supply chain and protect the public from health hazards and fraud in connection with the production, distribution and consumption of food.

In recent years, Malaysia's total import and export trade has been growing rapidly, and in order to keep pace with global food security and trade developments as well as current technological advances and digital transformation, it was decided that the Food Act 1983 would be amended again after a gap of 18 years since 2006.

Expanding the scope of application of the law Including food contact materials, expanding the coverage of the regulation and providing a strong guarantee for improving the control of the entire food supply chain.

Expanding the functions of regulators' powers The Director-General and his authorized subordinate officials may establish requirements or conditions for imported food or food contact materials, so as to effectively control imported food or food contact materials, and at the same time, increase the enforcement efforts to ensure that the requirements are implemented on the ground.

With the permission of the government of the exporting country, the Director General and his authorized subordinate officials may inspect the production or business premises of food exporters, with the aim of strengthening the control of food export premises in the exporting country, verifying the safety and compliance of imported food, ensuring compliance with food regulatory requirements, preventing food safety risks and preventing health hazards.

New Limitations on Declaration of Food for Non-Sale Purposes In order to effectively reduce fraudulent declaration of food for non-sale purposes, it is allowed to set a reasonable quantity limit on the entry of food for sale purposes but declared for personal use.

New Penalty Provisions and Penalties New penalty provisions have been added for imported food, imported food contact materials, food contact materials or their surfaces that may migrate toxic, destructive or health-hazardous substances that do not comply with the statute or regulations. In order to effectively deter violations and provide a sufficient deterrent to prevent recurrence, the penalties provide for a fine of 20,000-100,000 ringgit (approximately RMB 33,000-164,000) or 10 years' imprisonment.