Tag: Oman

  • Oman Bans Shisha and Vaping Products

    Oman Bans Shisha and Vaping Products

    Credit: YTA

    The chairman of the Consumer Protection Authority states that a fine of up to OMR2,000 ($5,196) for multiple violations will be imposed on anyone who trades in e-cigarettes, shisha, and their accessories in the Sultanate of Oman.

    His Excellency Sulayem bin Ali Al-Hakmani issued Ministerial decision No. 756/2023 on Sunday, January 7, 2024, creating the ban, according to media reports.

    Article One stipulates that the circulation of e-cigarettes, shisha, and their accessories is prohibited.

    Article Two states that, “without prejudice to the penal penalties stipulated in the aforementioned Consumer Protection Law, an administrative fine not exceeding OMR1,000 shall be imposed on anyone who violates the provisions of this decision, and the fine shall be doubled in the event of a repeat violation.

    shisha hookah
    Credit: Helga Bragina

    “If this violation continues, an administrative fine of OMR 50 will be imposed for each day that the violation continues, provided that its total does not exceed OMR 2,000. The seized quantities of electronic cigarettes, shishas, ​​and their accessories will be destroyed in accordance with the controls in force at the Consumer Protection Authority.”

    The new bill also repealed an earlier Resolution (No. 698/2015), as well as any laws or rules that contravene the current resolution or conflict with its provisions.

    It also stipulates that the decision “shall be published in the Official Gazette, and shall be effective from the day following the date of its publication.”

  • Oman to Implement Plain Packaging

    Oman to Implement Plain Packaging

    Image: mbruxelle

    Oman’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) announced that the mandatory standard for plain packaging of tobacco products will be effective April 2024, according to the Daily Muscat.

    “The ministry requests tobacco companies and local compliance firms to follow Ministerial Decision No. 2023/67, which requires implementing Omani Standard OS1655 for plain packaging of tobacco products. This becomes mandatory from April 4, 2024,” the MoCIIP said in a statement.

    The ministry issued a decision on the standard in March 2023 and deemed it a binding Omani standard specification.

    The standard requires that at least 65 percent of the packaging include a public health warning, picture and a message to quit while the rest of the packaging displays the brand name in a standardized font and color.

  • Oman Adopts Plain Packaging

    Oman Adopts Plain Packaging

    Photo: Chris

    The government of Oman will require tobacco companies to sell their products in generic packaging, reports Muscat Daily

    The Sultanate has become the second country  in the region, after Saudi Arabia, to adopt the measure.

    The World Health Organization office for the Eastern Mediterranean welcomed Oman’s action, describing it as “significant and pioneering.”

     According to the health body, the step is consistent with the obligations of the states that are party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

    The move is also in line with the sultanate’s plans to achieve a 30 percent reduction in tobacco consumption by 2025.

    Under the new rules, health warnings must cover at least 65 percent of tobacco packaging, while the brand name must be printed in a standardized font and color.

  • Prices set to double

    Prices set to double

    Cigarettes – and alcoholic, energy and soft drinks – are going to be more expensive in Oman from June with the imposition of a new national tax, according to a story in The Times of Oman.

    ‘The Selective Goods Tax Law comes as a result of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) Standard Agreement on Selective Tax, issued in 2016 by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the State of Qatar,’ the Government Communication Center was reported to have said on Wednesday in a statement.

    ‘This tax shall be levied on goods that have [caused] damage to public health or the environment in varying proportions.

    ‘Selective taxation seeks to achieve a set of objectives, the most important of which is the promotion of healthy lifestyles, the treatment of negative phenomena and practices through the amending of the consumption pattern of individuals, and [the provision of] an additional resource for public finances through the possibility of the tax revenues collected to promote health and social services.’

    The additional tax will increase the price of certain products, including tobacco, by 100 per cent.

  • Oman prepares for sin tax

    Oman prepares for sin tax

    Oman is due soon to follow in the footsteps of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar in imposing a selective tax on tobacco, alcohol, energy and carbonated drinks, according to a story in The Muscat Daily.

    The imposition of a new 100 percent excise tax will double the retail prices of tobacco products, alcoholic beverages and energy drinks, while carbonated drinks will attract a 50 percent excise tax.

    The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries’ framework on ‘Unified Selective Excise Tax’ is expected to be formally ratified this year. It was reviewed and endorsed by the Majlis A’Shura (Consultative Council) and the State Council at the end of 2018.

    Speaking to the Daily, Dr. Jawad al Lawati, rapporteur at the National Tobacco Control Committee, said that except for Oman and Kuwait, all GCC states had ratified and implemented the selective excise tax. “As it has already been vetted by the Majlis A’Shura and State Council, only a Royal Decree is awaited for it to become a law,” he said.

    The new taxes were first unveiled in Oman’s 2017 budget.

    They have been dubbed ‘sin’ taxes because they are imposed on consumer goods considered to pose a risk to health.

  • Only experimenting

    Only experimenting

    While women in Oman try their first cigarette on average at the age of 18, men do so at the age of 21, according to a story in The Times of Oman citing figures from the National Survey on Non-Communicable Diseases.
    The survey, which was organized by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization, was conducted among 9,053 adults, of whom 6,833 responded, a response rate of 75.5 percent.
    Although women try their first cigarette at a relatively young age, few go on to become smokers. While the smoking rate among men stands at 15.1 percent, that among women is 0.4 percent.
    Consequently, while overall daily smoking stands at 9.1 cigarettes per day, men smoke 9.2 cigarettes and women 2.1 cigarettes.

  • Second-hand survey

    Second-hand survey

    Oman’s new National Health Survey on Non-Communicable Diseases has found that 27.9 percent of the country’s population is exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke, according to a story in The Times of Oman.
    The story indicated that this exposure was divided between the home, where 16.7 percent of people were exposed to second-hand smoke, and the workplace, where 11.2 percent of people were exposed. These figures look slightly odd in that they seem to rule out that anybody is exposed to tobacco smoke both at home and work.
    The exposure rate was said to be slightly lower for non-Omanis within the population, 27.0 percent (16.3 percent at home and 10.7 percent at work) than for Omanis, 28.3 percent (16.8 percent at home and 11.5 percent at work).
    The survey indicated also that 25.1 percent of women suffered exposure to second-hand smoke (15.2 percent at home and 8.9 percent at work), while the figure for men was 29.9 percent (18.1 percent at home and 11.8 percent at work).
    The survey was carried out among 9,045 Omani and non-Omani families distributed across all governorates of the Sultanate in co-operation with the competent departments of the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization.
    “In Oman, non-communicable diseases are responsible for about 70 per cent of the total deaths in the Sultanate, and in response to the growing burden of NCDs, the government of the Sultanate has adopted a multi-sectoral national action plan to prevent and combat NCDs,” Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Al Saidi, Minister of Health, was quoted as saying.
    The survey indicated, too, that 15.8 percent of men used tobacco products (6.3 percent of Omanis and 14.2 percent of non-Omanis), while 0.5 percent of women said they used tobacco products.