President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has called on all Maldivians to say ‘no’ to smoking on World No Tobacco Day.

In his address on Friday, the President highlighted that Maldives will begin implementing its new regulations on packaging and labelling cigarettes and said that the sale of single sticks of cigarettes, cigars, and bidi is banned as part of the government’s pledge to reduce smoking in the country.

President Solih said that businesses will be required to have labels that show the effects of smoking on their cigarette packs from July 31 onwards and will be banned from selling unlabeled packs from November 30.

In the address, he called on all authorities to enforce the new laws and to make their own contributions for a healthier community.

According to the new regulations, those found guilty of selling single sticks of tobacco products will be fined 10 times the product sold, plus tax, for their first violation. A second violation will result in a fine of MVR 5,000 while a third and fourth violation will lead to fine of MVR 10,000 and MVR 20,000.