The parliament has declined not to increase the tax levied on cigarette imports, Mohammad Hassan Nejad, a member of Integration Committee of the parliament told Tasnim news agency yesterday. Import of cigarettes during the nine months ending in Azar was 10.1 thousand tons, and the value was $78.6 million, which illustrates a 26 percent growth in value, compared to the same period last year. Cigarette is among the goods that has widely been imported illegally during the past years due to the ban on legal import of the product. Some officials believe that issuing import permits for cigarette will definitely curtail its smuggling.
