What happened?
Cabinet Decision No. 137 of 2026 is effective from 1 September 2026 and sets minimum excise prices used within the UAE excise-price framework for specified tobacco products and liquids used in electronic smoking devices and tools.
The FTA-published English document is labelled as not being an official translation. The operative legal position should therefore be checked against the official Arabic text where interpretation turns on exact wording.
Key details
The decision sets a floor of AED 0.40 per cigarette, AED 0.10 per gram for water-pipe tobacco, ready-to-use tobacco and similar products, and AED 1 per millilitre for liquids used in electronic smoking devices and tools.
The definition of e-smoking liquids covers liquids used in the devices whether or not they contain nicotine. The decision also repeals Cabinet Decision No. 55 of 2019 and conflicting provisions.
Who is affected?
Manufacturers, importers, warehouse operators, distributors and tax teams dealing with the affected excise goods should ensure product master data and excise-price calculations reflect the new floors from the effective date.
Commercial teams should also consider whether the tax base change affects margin, pricing or inventory decisions for products whose previous excise price sat below the new minimum.
Why it matters
The immediate issue is not a new excise category but a minimum valuation floor. The effect will therefore vary by product: items already valued above the floor may see little direct change, while lower-priced products can experience a more visible tax-base and pricing impact.