TPD18080 - National Advice Service Enquiries - Chewing tobacco

Tobacco products intended for chewing include both the traditional type (originally used by miners) which is basically moist plugs of tobacco and the Asian type of chewing tobacco products. Whereas the first consists mostly of tobacco, the Asian products such as tulsi mix and guhkta may contain only a small percentage of tobacco. In either case the duty is based on the weight of the whole product i.e. excluding packaging but including any other ingredients such as nuts, leaves spices etc. This can make the product subject to an amount of duty which may seem disproportionate but that is the legal position and there is no policy to apportion duty to the tobacco content only. There have been instances of significant amounts being imported under misdescribed tariff headings and large assessments have resulted.

If you are in doubt about chewing tobacco or any other unusual tobacco product, contact the Tobacco Team in Ralli Quays.