President ratifies law reducing cigarette duty
Specific import duty on each cigarette, bidi and consumable for heated tobacco products has been reduced from MVR 8 to MVR 4.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has ratified an amendment to the Export-Import Act reducing the import duty on cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The amendment, proposed on behalf of the government by Komandoo MP Mohamed Ibrahim, was passed by the People's Majlis on Wednesday.
Under the new law, the specific import duty on each cigarette, bidi and consumable for heated tobacco products has been reduced from MVR 8 to MVR 4. The amendment also sets the ad valorem duty on these products at 30 per cent.
In addition, nicotine gum, nicotine patches and other smoking cessation products are exempt from import duty.
Before the amendment, the specific duty on each cigarette was MVR 8.
Speaking in Parliament before the bill was passed, Baarah MP and Deputy Leader of the PNC Parliamentary Group Ibrahim Shujau said the reduction in duty would lower the retail price of a packet of cigarettes to about MVR 130.
Cigarette prices are currently above MVR 230 per packet. Before the duty increase introduced in December 2024, a packet sold for around MVR 100.
The duty was increased from MVR 3.50 to MVR 8 in December 2024 following the government's ban on vaping products, with the aim of discouraging increased cigarette use.
Last month, Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusaan said the government was considering reducing the duty to MVR 4 following recommendations from the World Health Organization.
President Muizzu also said earlier this week that the reduction in duty should not be viewed as a reversal of the government's tobacco control policy.
