Customs lost US$1.4m lawsuit after state changed stand
The Attorney General’s office backed a tobacco importer’s claim in a tariff dispute.
16 Mar 2019, 9:00 AM
The Maldives Customs Service lost an MVR22.7 million (US$1.4 million) lawsuit after the Attorney General’s office changed its stand and backed the claim by the country’s largest tobacco wholesaler.
The civil court on March 6 ruled in favour of CGT Pvt Ltd over a dispute that arose after the import duty for tobacco was hiked in March 2017.
The company contended it was charged the higher tariff rate for six containers of cigarettes that arrived in the Maldives on March 1, 2017, a day before the import duty hike came into force.
According to media reports last week, the state attorney representing customs previously argued the higher tariff was applicable because the shipment was cleared after the deadline on March 2.
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