The Ministry of Health of the United Arab Emirates submitted a proposal to the government to establish a minimum price for a pack of cigarettes at 14 dirhams (US $ 4). Referring to numerous studies conducted in different countries of the world, the Ministry of Health experts say that there is a direct correlation between the cost of tobacco and the number of smokers, especially among young people.
According to experts from the Ministry of Health, increasing the cost of tobacco products should become an integral part of the UAE’s new anti-tobacco policy, which since mid-January has imposed new restrictions on smoking in public places and cars, on tobacco advertising.
Most likely, the proposal of the Ministry of Health will be accepted by the authorities, but it is still unknown when exactly the price increase will occur. "We would like to increase the cost of tobacco products, but this cannot be done by raising the import tax. Nevertheless, it is possible to do it by other taxes. The solution of such technical details will take some time," Dr. Vidad Al-Meidur told the press , Head of the Tobacco Products Market Control Section under the UAE Ministry of Health.
As the Russian Emirates Publishing House reported earlier, all tobacco products sold in the United Arab Emirates are taxed at 30 to 45%, but the emirate’s prices remain among the lowest in the world and in the Gulf region. The average price per pack of cigarettes in the UAE is less than $ 2. Today in the UAE you can buy a pack of cigarettes for less than 1 US dollar, which is cheaper than in Sudan and the Gaza Strip.
