SWABI: Tobacco Action Committee Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TACKP) leaders and growers on Sunday held a protest demonstration at the Swabi interchange on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway to demand the withdrawal of the Rs390 per kilogramme federal excise duty (FED) and the Rangers personnel from the production points of the small cigarette manufacturers and traders.
Irshad Khan, the TACKP chairman, led the protest. Local leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf also participated in the protest.
The central government has imposed Rs390 per kg FED on tobacco at the threshing stage, despite strong protests from small cigarette manufacturers and traders.
The protesters said the tax had a far-reaching impact on the government, small traders and growers.
Addressing the protesters, Irshad Khan alleged that multinational companies had established a monopoly on the tobacco trade, causing serious damage to the crop and the growers.
He said the exit of national companies and traders from the market would cause serious financial losses to farmers. He said the quota of two multinational companies for the current year was 32 million kilogrammes, while the expected production was 100 million kilogrammes.
“There will be no buyer in the market for the remaining 68 million kilogrammes. Unjust taxes and the suspicious role of FBR have provided an opportunity to the multinational companies to harm small companies, farmers, and cripple the government revenues,” he said.
“FBR claims the tax was imposed to stop the flow of illegal cigarettes in the market. The question is that the Pakistani cigarette market is worth Rs82 billion, of which Rs16 billion worth of cigarettes are smuggled into the country. Why don’t the central government and FBR take steps to prevent this smuggling?” Mr Khan quipped.
The protesters demanded the withdrawal of FED, ending the ‘monopoly’ of multinational companies, putting in place a mechanism for the purchase of crops from non-agreement holders, and boosting tobacco exports through enhanced quality.
They feared that millions of people would be rendered unemployed if the tobacco crop and industry were further ‘harmed’.
Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026
