The government of India on Thursday prohibited the import of cigarette lighters if the price per unit is less than Rs 20, with a view to discourage inbound shipments of the product.
“The import policy of cigarette lighters…is revised from ‘free’ to ‘prohibited’. However, import shall be free if CIF value is Rs 20 or above per lighter,” the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
The cost, insurance and freight (CIF) price is the price of a good delivered at the frontier of the importing country, or the price of a service delivered to a resident, before the payment of any import duties or other taxes on imports or trade and transport margins within the country.
In international trade, this term is often used as the logistics process can be complex. Along with defining the value of the goods, CIF also declares specific rules and regulations to declare the product’s liability.
According to the rules announced by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which are considered standard practices, the seller is responsible for the goods until the product reaches the port of the buyer/destination.
Prohibition on Import of Lighters to India
The prohibition has been imposed on pocket lighters, gas fuelled, non-refillable or refillable.
The import of these non-refillable gas fuelled pocket lighters stood at USD 0.66 million in 2022-23. It was USD 0.13 million in April this fiscal.
Similarly, the inbound shipments of pocket lighters, gas fuelled, and refillable, stood at USD 8.87 million in 2022-23 against USD 7 million in 2021-22. It was USD 0.96 million in April of this fiscal.
These lighters are majorly imported from countries like Spain, Turkey and the UAE.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin had in September last year urged the Centre to ban single-use plastic cigarette lighters to help the domestic matchbox industry.
Most of these plastic cigarette lighters, which are legally and illegally imported from countries like China, are available for Rs 10 and can substitute 20 matchboxes, Stalin had said. Further, he added that these non-refillable lighters result in immense plastic waste, damaging the environment and also impacting health, he had said.
The matchbox manufacturing industry is a major source of employment in the southern part of Tamil Nadu.
