Tobacco industry: Limited imports of cigarettes

New tax measures for tobacco industry for the year 2012 act in favor of local tobacco operators. Two measures concerning imports have been adopted. Limited number of importers and reduction of import values ​​were the measures recently taken for the tobacco industry in the Finance Act 2012.

If the excise duty has always been maintained at 250% for local and imported cigarettes, these measures seem however to protect local tobacco industry. Indeed, according to the CEO of a local leading tobacco-producing company, “this year, the protection of the tobacco-growing sector has been strengthened. Imports were subjected to two different conditions”. This Act, in fact, points out that only duly approved manufacturers, currently two companies, are authorized to import. As for the quantity, the text states that the value of imports of cigarettes by manufacturers is limited to up to 5% of the value of the local production of the previous year.