The bill submitted on behalf of the government to lower the duty levied on a cigarette from MVR 8 to MVR 4 was passed by the Parliament today without any changes.
The bill was proposed on behalf of the government by Komandoo Constituency MP Mohamed Ibrahim, with it being passed by the Committee of the Whole Parliament on Monday after research was conducted. After the committee's report was voted on during today's Parliament sitting, 68 PM's voted in favor of the bill, with no MP voting against it.
A previous heated debate that had unfolded in Parliament over the government’s proposal resulted in political parties trading accusations of theft against each other.
During the debate, PNC MPs defended the earlier tax increase, arguing it was introduced amid concerns that a ban on vaping products could lead to increased cigarette consumption, and that more recent evidence suggested vape users had not significantly shifted to cigarette smoking, attributing this to government enforcement measures.
When some opposition MDP MP's said that PNC MP's statements regarding the increase and reduction to the cigarette duty did not match, Baarah Constituency MP and PNC member Ibrahim Shujau responded that PNC members were previously and are currently speaking about the reasons why the change to the duty had to be brought.
Even though MP's stated that the Committee of the Whole Parliament's meeting to research the bill should have resulted in changes to the bill itself, and that the lack of any proposals resulted in the bill being passed as per the government's initial proposal.
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. However, the government has said that the decision to lower the duty is being made due to advice that had been received from the World Health Organization (WHO) in lowering the import duty to MVR 4.
The government has previously said that they will continue to bring changes to the duty rate that are necessary in order to proceed with the steps that have been taken to control smoking in a sustainable manner. They have also said that they will hold the rate as per results from the research that is conducted at the time.
