Minimum price for pack of cigarettes will go up to Dh8 in December
The minimum price for a pack of 20 cigarettes in the UAE will be set at Dh8 from December 1, the Federal Tax Authority said.
In a move that could help put an end to low-quality tobacco products being sold in the country, the authority is calling on all businesses registered for excise tax to comply with new minimum pricing rules.
Individual cigarettes will carry a 40 fils excise fee from December. And shisha tobacco will carry a minimum 10 fils excise charge on every gram, with a starting retail price of at least Dh100 per kilogram.
Previously, residents could buy a pack of cigarettes for as little as Dh3 in parts of the country.
The new pricing applies to all brands of cigarettes and locally traded tobacco products.
The move was welcomed by healthcare specialists in the country, who previously called on the government to raise the prices of the cheapest cigarettes on shop shelves.
“For a long time it has been so cheap to smoke in the UAE,” Louisa Kiernander, a smoking cessation therapist at Mind Solutions in Dubai, told The National.
“While cigarettes are still considerably less expensive here compared with other parts of the world, the rising prices will play a big factor in those looking to give up the habit,” she said. “Limiting the number of areas where people can smoke will also play a part in encouraging people to quit smoking.”
Since the excise tax was introduced in 2017, Iyaad Hasan, a tobacco treatment specialist at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, said more smokers visit the clinic in an effort to quit.
“The tax, which effectively doubled the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes, has contributed to the number of people seeking to quit through the smoking cessation programme.”
With the government putting a spotlight on the health risks associated with smoking, Mr Hasan said “pressure from family members, health concerns, and the rising costs of tobacco products” are the most common reasons for people wanting to kick the habit.
In August, the government announced that e-cigarettes and vaping devices would be subject to a 100 per cent tax, expanding on the introduction of the 2017 tax on tobacco. .
Dr Zaid Zoumot, consultant pulmonologist at the respiratory critical care institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, told The National there is “a 2.5 per cent to 5 per cent reduction in smoking” with a 10 per cent increase in price.