From August 1. The Maldives will remove duty-free concessions for goods such as e-cigarettes and functional beverages and increase the import duty-free allowance from 6,000 Maldivian rufiya (US$388.16) to 10,000 Maldivian rufiya (US$646.94).
Ahmed Niyaz, Deputy Director of the Maldives Customs Service (MCS), announced that all previously granted duty-free import concessions for vapes and functional beverages will be canceled starting next month. Edition reported on July 5th.
Speaking on the state media public service media. Niyaz (PSM) said in a conversation based on the newly revised comprehensive laws and regulations of the Customs Service. Which brings two major changes.
One of the changes is the removal of duty-free concessions on certain imported products.
Niazi explained that duty-free concessions on tobacco, other tobacco products, vape devices, and functional beverages will be eliminated as of August 1st.
“(You should know) that the Maldives has signed many international treaties on health. These treaties discourage duty-free concessions on products such as cigarettes.”
Some of the items that will no longer enjoy duty-free concessions include:
- Tobacco;
- Electronic cigarettes;
- Functional drinks;
- Plastic bags;
- Disposable plastics;
- Land transportation.
Niazi pointed out that the second change was to increase the import duty-free allowance from 6,000 Maldivian Rufiya (MVR) (US$388.16) to 10,000 Maldivian Rufiya (US$646.94).
“The main reason for increasing this duty-free limit is that when a large amount of goods such as Shein are imported, we want to get through customs as quickly as possible. When the limit was 6,000 Maldivian Rufiya, packages had to be opened and inspected. With the limit raised to 10,000 Maldivian rufiya, [goods] can pass through customs without having to open and inspect documents.”
However, he added that this does not apply to local businesses. If the total amount of imported products is used for business activities, they will not be entitled to this duty-free discount, he noted.
