Parliament Passes Cut to Cigarette Import Duties
The Parliament today passed an amendment to the Export-Import Act to increase import duties on tobacco products, including cigarettes and hand-rolled cigarettes. This government-sponsored bill also includes provisions to eliminate duties on smoking cessation aids such as nicotine gum and patches. Introduced in alignment with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, the new law requires relevant regulations to be updated within 30 days of its implementation.
A person holding a lit cigarette.
The People's Majlis has passed an amendment to reduce the import duty on cigarettes from 8 MVR to 4 MVR per stick. Along with this change, the parliament also approved a reduction in the duty on hand-rolled cigarettes to 4 MVR.
The government-sponsored bill was passed unanimously on Wednesday, with all 68 members present at the sitting voting in its favor.
Under the previous regulations, a duty of MVR 8 was levied on each cigarette. The bill proposes to reduce the duty to MVR 4 for cigarettes, as well as for hand-rolled cigarettes and heated tobacco products—tobacco items designed to be consumed through heating rather than combustion.
The bill to amend the Maldives Export-Import Act was submitted to Parliament in June by Member of Parliament for the Komandoo constituency, Mohamed Ibrahim, on behalf of the government.
The bill also includes provisions to eliminate import duties on nicotine gum, nicotine patches, and other similar products specifically designed to aid in smoking cessation.
According to the bill, all relevant regulations and procedures must be amended and published within 30 days of the law coming into effect.
In November 2024, the government decided to revise import duties on tobacco products, increasing the duty on individual cigarettes from MVR 3.30 to MVR 8.00.
The government has stated that the decision to reduce the import duty on cigarettes was made in accordance with recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO).
