A joint delegation from Iraqi Kurdistan and Imperial Brands visited the Regie’s headquarters in Hadat on Monday and met with its officials to learn more about the Regie’s tobacco product taxation system and its initiatives to combat smuggling and counterfeiting

The Regie’s chairman and general manager, Eng. Nassif Seklawi, received the delegation in his office.

It included Kamal Ma’ref, director general of Iraqi Kurdistan’s Customs Directorate; Kamal Qader, director general of Taxes; Sherwan Hamad, assistant director general of the Ministry of Finance and Economy’s Cabinet; Massoud Ali and Abbas al-Kaki, directors of the Haji Omran and Parvez Khan international border crossings; as well as Barzan Jejo and Abdulazim Qamji, from the Directorate General of Taxes.

Representing Imperial Brands were Mohamad Khalife, head of Corporate and Legal Affairs in the Middle East and Türkiye; Ziad Ramadan, head of External Affairs in the Middle East; Hussein Swaid, Corporate and Legal Affairs Executive in the Middle East; and Fouad el-Imad, market manager for Lebanon.

Board Members Dr. Issam Salman and Dr. Mazen Abboud, as well as Head of Local Production Department, Eng. Paul Ghanimeh, also attended the meeting.

During the visit, the delegation presented Seklawi with an honorary shield while the Regie, in turn, offered commemorative shields to the delegation members.

The delegation then toured the factory, accompanied by Ghanimeh, who outlined the Regie’s accomplishments in the field of manufacturing.

In the training hall, the delegation watched an introductory video about the Regie during a meeting with members of the senior staff, and listened to a technical presentation by Fahim Barakat, from the Financial Directorate, on the impact of increased tariffs on profits, highlighting the Regie’s experience in this area.

Eng. Mohammad Zaher, head of the Anti-Smuggling Department, also spoke about the effect of increased tariffs on smuggling, based on the Regie’s findings, and presented its plan to combat smuggling and counterfeiting in cooperation with the security forces.

In their presentations, Barakat and Zaher both explained that previous increases in tariffs on tobacco products in Lebanon had led to a surge in smuggling and counterfeiting, which in turn reduced the public treasury’s revenues.