Customs duty on electronic cigarettes, including flavored varieties, has been postponed indefinitely by the Kuwait government. The tax’s original implementation date was September 1, but it was delayed until January 1, 2023, according to the Arab Times, which cited the Al- Anba newspaper.
Since 2016, vaping items may be imported into and sold inside Kuwait. While it drafts and discusses its own legislation, it has adopted the United Arab Emirates’ standards for specifications, sale, and usage as of 2020. We should expect them to be almost comparable to UAE rules, with the exception of increased tariffs and a restriction on flavors other than tobacco in Kuwait. At this time, it is unclear when exactly these new restrictions will be finalized and put into effect.
A local Arabic newspaper reports that Suleiman Al-Fahd, acting director general of the General Administration of Customs, has issued instructions delaying the application of the 100 percent customs tax on nicotine-containing single-use cartridges and nicotine-containing liquids or gels, whether flavored or unflavored.
According to the instructions, “it is decided to postpone the tax application on four items until further notice.” Previously, Al-Fahd had issued customs instructions to delay the imposition of a 100 percent tax on electronic cigarettes and their liquids, whether flavored or not. This delay was set to last for four months.
The four products are as follows: flavored nicotine cartridges, unflavored nicotine cartridges, nicotine liquid or gel packs, and nicotine liquid or gel containers, both flavored and unflavored.
These new instructions supplement Customs Instructions No. 19 of 2022, issued in February of that year, which imposed a 100 percent customs duty on cartridges containing single-use nicotine (whether flavored or unflavored) and packages of liquids or gels containing nicotine (whether flavored or unflavored).
Post time: Dec-27-2022