A bill has been sent to the Parliament on behalf of the government to amend the Maldives Import Export Act to lower the import duty on tobacco to MVR 4.
The amendment to the law was proposed on behalf of the government by the Member for Komandoo constituency, Mohamed Ibrahim. The first reading of the bill, proposed by the PNC member, has been scheduled on the agenda for tomorrow's sitting of the Parliament.
While the proposal to lower the tobacco import duty to MVR 4 has been submitted, Home Minister Ali Ihusaan previously stated that as advice had been received from the World Health Organization (WHO) to do so, a decision had been made among the relevant government agencies to discuss bringing the change.
In a press conference held at the President's Office on the 31st May in connection with World No Tobacco Day, Ihusaan stated that with the ban on vapes in the Maldives, the government increased the duty on cigarettes in 2024, anticipating that people who used vapes at the time might suddenly switch to using tobacco or cigarettes.
The last change to tobacco import duty was brought in November 2024. At that time, the duty levied on cigarettes was increased from MVR 3.30 to MVR 8.
According to Ihusaan, altering the duty rate is a strategy utilized in all countries to control tobacco. He added that the government last increased the tobacco import duty because all studies conducted at the time, alongside expert advice, revealed that many people would use tobacco following the vape ban.
"It was a difficult decision taken by the government at the time, to increase the duty rate (of cigarettes) to MVR 8," Ihusaan had said.
However, Ihusaan stated that to carry forward the measures taken to control tobacco in a sustainable manner, bringing necessary changes to the duty rate is something the government will always do, and that the rate will be maintained based on the results shown by studies conducted at any given time.
"From some studies currently available to us, especially a study conducted by the WHO, one duty rate recommended for the Maldives is MVR 4 as the specific rate for the year 2026," Ihusaan had said.
Ihusaan stated at the time that discussions would be held with all relevant agencies and all stakeholders before bringing changes to the tobacco import duty rate. He added then that after discussions, if everyone agreed that the rate needed to be altered, the government would submit an amendment to the law to the Parliament.
