Sri Lanka Tightens Tobacco Controls for Incoming Passengers

Passengers arriving in Sri Lanka from abroad are no longer allowed to bring cigarettes with them. The restriction was introduced by the country's Ministry of Finance, according to Hiru News.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Praveenshashika, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Sri Lanka

Millions of Cigarettes Destroyed

On January 30, under the supervision of Sri Lankan customs authorities, more than two million cigarettes illegally brought into the country by foreign tourists were destroyed.

The seized tobacco products had been confiscated over the past four months at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

The market value of the destroyed foreign cigarettes is estimated at 305 million Sri Lankan rupees, while the potential loss of tax revenue for the government, had the products entered the domestic market, could have reached 271 million rupees.

Russian tour operators have not yet officially notified travelers about the new restriction. Russian tourists who arrived on the island in January reportedly did not encounter problems when bringing tobacco products through customs.

Regional Trend Toward Tobacco Restrictions

The move comes amid a broader regional trend toward stricter tobacco regulations. In November 2025, the Republic of Maldives introduced a complete ban on tobacco use for anyone born after January 1, 2007.

The Maldives became the first country in the world to impose a generational ban on smoking, effectively prohibiting tobacco consumption for an entire age group.