The ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) on Tuesday presented government legislature to amend the Tobacco Control Act in order to impose a generational ban on smoking for those born in and after the year 2007.
The decision to impose a generation smoking ban from 2007 onwards was announced by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration on April 13.
The legislative amendments required to implement the ban, sponsored by PNC parliamentarian Ali Ashraq, the Kinbidhoo representative, was presented at the Parliament on Tuesday morning.
The proposed bill prohibits both the consumption by and sale of tobacco products to individuals born after January 1, 2007.
The ban also extends to sale of tobacco products through methods where the age of the purchaser cannot be verified, such as through vending machines, online, or via courier.
The bill states that it is the legal responsibility of sellers to verify that the purchaser is of legal age to purchase tobacco products. In situations where the sellers cannot determine the age of the purchaser, they are required to verify their age by checking their national ID card or other official identification documents.
The bill also bans the import of machinery and equipment used to produce tobacco products, and also empowers the police to confiscate e-cigarettes and vaping devices found in possession of individuals.
The Maldives had amended laws to ban vaping back in December 2024.
The bill requires businesses to obtain a special license to trade in tobacco products. As such, the Health Ministry recently opened applications for four types of licenses to tobacco sellers; license for retail or wholesale of tobacco products, license for import of tobacco products, license for re-export of tobacco products, and registration of a new type of tobacco product.
Issuance and renewal of license for retail and wholesale of tobacco products is subject to a fee of MVR 5,000, while the issuance and renewal of the other licenses are subject to a fee of MVR 10,000.
The bill states that all these amendments will take effect on November 1.
President Muizzu launched a campaign against smoking last year, introducing a ban vapes and cigarettes, and doubling import duty and taxes on cigarettes.
The move doubled the price of the most common cigarette brands from MVR 110 to MVR 240 per pack.
Tobacco importers and distributors raised the prices of cigarettes following this change, with the price of common cigarette brands rising between MVR 240 to MVR 290 per pack, and MVR 2,240 per carton.
While businesses initially reported a drop in the sale of cigarettes, there has been an increase in the sale of rolling tobacco and cheaper lower quality cigarette brands, as well as a surge in the smuggling of cigarettes.