On 9 June 2020, the government presented amendments to the Maldives’ Export Import Act to the parliament. Major provisions in the amendment bill are summarised below.

• Introduce a royalty on commercially re-exported goods at 5% of FOB value.
• Abolish the 0.1% stamp duty on imports and exports and replace it with a 1% “revenue fee” on the value of imported, exported and re-exported goods.
• Increase the import duty on:
  • cigarettes, from MVR 2 to MVR 3 per stick.
  • drinking straws, from 20% to 400% of FOB value.
  • single use/disposable plastic films, sheets, tube rolls, plates, cutlery, and similar products, from 20% to 200% of FOB value.
• Reduce/abolish the import duty on certain goods.
• Introduce a ban on import of plastics and plastics-based products as determined by the President, from 1 January 2021.

The amendments are proposed to take effect from 1 July 2020.