Dubai Municipality confiscates 26 tons of paan, over 400,000 packs of cigarettes

The Dubai Municipality has confiscated significant quantities of tobacco and paan products that do not conform to the approved UAE specifications and which do not bear a digital tax stamp.

In coordination with the federal customs and tax authorities, more than 416,744 packs of cigarettes were confiscated from a warehouses located in Ras Al Khor.

In the same warehouse, more than 26 tons of banned paan products were also confiscated.

“The tobacco products have been confiscated by the Federal Tax Authority, and the seized pan products have been destroyed in accordance with the procedures followed in by Dubai Municipality, in addition to issuing fines to the violating establishments in accordance with the legislations in force,” said Dr. Naseem Mohammad Rafi, director of Health and Safety Department at Dubai Municipality.

The municipality said that it will continue its monitoring and inspection campaigns to ensure that the products sold within the emirate do not pose a risk to the public’s health.

It called on the public to report violations or send remarks in this regard through direct communication with Dubai Municipality through its toll-free number 800 900.

Starting January 1, the UAE’s Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has banned the supplying, transferring, storing, and possessing water pipe tobacco and electrically heated cigarettes that do not carry digital tax stamps.

The ban was previously scheduled to come into effect from June 1, 2020, in line with phase two of the ‘Marking Tobacco and Tobacco Products Scheme’.

Read: UAE defers ban on e-cigarettes, water pipe tobacco products without ‘digital tax stamps’

As part of the scheme’s initial phase, the sale or possession of unmarked cigarette packs was banned across all local markets in the UAE as of August 1, 2019.

Read more: Importing cigarettes without ‘digital tax stamp’ now prohibited in the UAE

The digital tax stamps allow for digitally tracking the designated products from the manufacturing facility until the products reach the end consumer, ensuring that set standards and criteria are satisfied and that excise tax obligations are met.