The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has issued a formal reminder to businesses involved in the tobacco trade to apply for the required licences before the deadline on July 17, 2025. The application period, which opened on April 17, 2025, was made available for three months.

Licences are mandatory under the Tobacco Control Act and its associated regulations, which stipulate that all businesses must obtain separate authorisation to import, re-export, sell, or register tobacco products in the Maldives. According to the HPA, applications must be submitted through the oneGov portal, the designated online platform for processing licencing requests.

A Government-issued notification reiterated that it would be unlawful to trade in tobacco products without a valid licence after the closure of the application window on July 17. The notification added that this requirement aligns with recent amendments made to the Tobacco Control Act.

The categories of authorisation, as outlined by the HPA, include:

The application fee to sell tobacco products locally is set at MVR 5,000, while fees for importing, re-exporting, or registering a product are MVR 10,000.

The general regulations on tobacco control also set out penalties for non-compliance. Individuals or businesses found operating without a valid licence will face a fine of MVR 50,000 for the first offence. Repeat violations will incur a penalty of MVR 100,000 for each subsequent infraction.