Parliament has on Monday passed the bill to increase duties levied on tobacco, soft drinks, and energy drinks with hikes higher than initially proposed.

After the MPs at the Economic Committee had divided soft drinks and energy drinks into two categories and maintained the import and export duties levied on these goods to 15 percent. An additional MVR 4.60 would be charged from every liter.

Parliamentarians further voted to charge MVR 33.64 from every liter, for energy drinks.

The bill further places an import and export duty of 25 percent, and MVR 2 would be charged from every cigarette imported, a considerable lift from MVR 0.90 that was charged before.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the Customs Service, and the Tobacco Control Board were summoned to review the duty hikes. The HPA noted last week that there is a stark lack in funds and effort dedicated towards raising awareness about the risks of smoking.

However, the Customs said that it generates an annual revenue of MVR 622 million, from duties placed on tobacco import alone.

READ MORE: Pro-government MPs against using duty revenues for public awareness