Ministerial Decision Ministerial Decision No. 249 of 2025 Ministry of Finance

MD 249/2025 — Smoking cessation products excluded from tobacco products

Ministerial Decision No. 249 of 2025 on the Exception of Smoking Cessation Products from the Definition of Tobacco and Tobacco Products for the Purposes of Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2019 on Excise Goods, Excise Tax Rates and the Methods of Calculating the Excise Price and its Amendments

In force Issued 22 September 2025 In force from 1 October 2025

Official Arabic text (opens in a new tab) English translation (unofficial) (opens in a new tab)

Official Arabic title
قرار وزاري رقم (249) لسنة 2025 — استثناء منتجات الإقلاع عن التدخين من تعريف التبغ ومنتجاته لأغراض قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم (52) لسنة 2019 في شأن السلع الانتقائية والنسب الضريبية التي تفرض عليها وكيفية احتساب السعر الانتقائي وتعديلاته
Document type
Ministerial Decision
Number
249
Issued by
Ministry of Finance
Administered by
Federal Tax Authority
Issued
22 September 2025
In force from
1 October 2025
Applies to
Importers and producers of nicotine gum, tablets, patches, sprays, nose drops, injections and the other products listed under the eight Customs codes of Art. 1, where exclusively intended to help stop tobacco use.
Current position
In force on its own terms from 1 October 2025. The clause it implements (Art. 3(2) of Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2019) was repealed from 1 January 2026 with the rest of CD 52/2019; Cabinet Decision No. 197 of 2025 repeats the same exception in its Art. 3(2) without naming this decision.
Topics
Excise Tax · Excise goods & rates
Official text
Official Arabic text · English translation (unofficial)

Factual summary

Issued by the Minister of State for Financial Affairs under Clause 2 of Art. 3 of Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2019. It lists eight Customs codes of Chapter 24 of the GCC Common Customs Tariff (headings 24 04 91, 24 04 92 and 24 04 99: nicotine chewing gum, tablets, patches, sprays, nose drops, injections and other forms) whose products, when exclusively intended to assist in smoking cessation, are not treated as tobacco and tobacco products and therefore fall outside the tobacco Excise Tax category.

What it means in practice Professional insight

Who: importers and producers of smoking cessation products. What to check: that the goods are classified under one of the eight listed codes and are exclusively intended to help stop tobacco use before treating them as outside the tobacco category.

Key provisions

  • Art. 1 For Clause 2 of Art. 3 of Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2019, products listed within Chapter 24 of the GCC Common Customs Tariff that are exclusively intended to assist in smoking cessation are not tobacco and tobacco products, according to these Customs codes: 24 04 91 10 00 00 (chewing gum containing nicotine), 24 04 91 20 00 00 (in tablet form), 24 04 91 91 00 00 (other), 24 04 92 10 00 00 (patches), 24 04 92 91 00 00 (other), 24 04 99 10 00 00 (spray), 24 04 99 20 00 00 (nose drops) and 24 04 99 30 00 00 (injections), each to help tobacco use cessation, including smoking.
  • Art. 2 Every provision that violates or conflicts with this Decision is repealed.
  • Art. 3 Published and effective from 1 October 2025.

What changed

  1. 22 September 2025 Issued
  2. 1 October 2025 In force

Relationship chain

Law → decisions made under it → amendments → guidance and announcements; oldest first within each level.

  1. 17 August 2017 Federal Decree-Law FDL 7/2017 — Excise Tax Law In force — amended
    1. 24 September 2017 Cabinet Decision CD 37/2017 — Excise Tax Executive Regulation — Executive Regulation of this law In force — amended
      1. 17 June 2025 FTA Decision FTA Decision 6/2025 — Natural shortage of excise goods in a Designated Zone (consolidated 2026) — Made under it In force — amended
    2. 24 September 2017 Cabinet Decision CD 38/2017 — Excise goods, rates and the Excise Price (repealed) — Made under Arts. 2, 3 Repealed
    3. 24 July 2018 Cabinet Decision CD 42/2018 — Marking tobacco and tobacco products (tax stamps) — Made under it In force
      1. 6 November 2018 FTA Decision FTA Decision 3/2018 — Tobacco marking scheme: dates, fee per Mark and storage (consolidated 2026) — Made under it In force — amended
      2. 28 April 2019 FTA Decision FTA Decision 2/2019 — Marks on water pipe tobacco and heated cigarettes (consolidated 2026) — Made under it In force — amended
        1. 11 May 2020 FTA Decision FTA Decision 5/2020 — Unmarked shisha tobacco and heated cigarettes banned from 1 January 2021 — Amends Art. 1(4) In force
      3. 1 May 2019 Cabinet Decision CD 33/2019 — Penalties for tobacco marking (tax stamp) violations — Made under it In force
      4. 30 August 2021 FTA Decision FTA Decision 3/2021 — New-design Marks for cigarettes and water pipe tobacco (consolidated 2026) — Made under it In force — amended
    4. 4 August 2019 Cabinet Decision CD 52/2019 — Excise goods, rates and the Excise Price (repealed) — Made under Arts. 2, 3 Repealed
      1. 29 September 2019 Ministerial Decision MD 236/2019 — Customs codes and concentrate Excise Price under CD 52/2019 (repealed) — Made under Arts. 4, 5, 13, 17 Repealed
      2. 28 April 2021 FTA Decision FTA Decision 1/2021 — Calculating the average retail selling price of excise goods — Made under Art. 14(2) In force
      3. 3 January 2025 Ministerial Decision MD 1/2025 — Customs codes and concentrate Excise Price under CD 52/2019 — Made under Arts. 4, 5, 13 In force
      4. 22 September 2025 Ministerial Decision MD 249/2025 — Smoking cessation products excluded from tobacco products — Made under Art. 3(2) In force
    5. 4 August 2019 Cabinet Decision CD 55/2019 — Minimum Excise Price for tobacco products (repealed) — Made under it Repealed
      1. 29 September 2019 Ministerial Decision MD 237/2019 — Start date of the minimum Excise Price for tobacco (1 December 2019) — Made under Art. 3 Spent
    6. 27 November 2025 Cabinet Decision CD 197/2025 — Excise goods, rates and amounts, and the Excise Price — Made under Arts. 2, 3 In force
      1. 12 December 2025 FTA Decision FTA Decision 10/2025 — Sugar content of drink concentrates without reliable guidelines — Made under it In force
    7. 12 December 2025 FTA Decision FTA Decision 11/2025 — Additional cases for deducting excise tax — Made under Art. 16(1)(d) In force
    8. 24 July 2026 Cabinet Decision CD 137/2026 — Minimum Excise Price for tobacco products and e-liquids — Made under it In force

Official sources

Official Arabic text (opens in a new tab) English translation (unofficial) (opens in a new tab)

Last verified against official sources: 26 October 2026 · اقرأ بالعربية

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General information, not tax advice. Each record is checked against the official source; where they differ, the official Arabic text prevails.