TPD8010 - Products dutied by weight: Cigars: definition

Cigars are defined in the “Tobacco Products (Descriptions of Products) Order 2003”. Generally speaking any integral filter or mouthpiece is included in the net weight for duty purposes. The weight of any filter or mouthpiece is excluded only if:

• it can be removed from the finished product leaving the tobacco rod intact and smokeable as a cigar, or
• the cigar was smokeable (ie it was an identifiable tobacco product) before the filter or mouthpiece was affixed.

These days the majority of cigars are made by machine. Hand-made cigars cost more to produce than those made by machine and tend to dominate the expensive end of the market. Large hand-made cigars from Cuba and Honduras are mainly imported by specialist importers.