Page 24 - Retail-World-JanuaryFebruary_NonTob-2021

TOBACCO
IMPERIAL LASHES OUT AGAINST ILLICIT TRADE
mperial Brands Australasia says enforcement capabilities at both a being enhanced enforcement at the
it has welcomed the recent federal and state level to address retail level, where currently only minimal tabling of the final report by the this considerable issue, and action is taken.
Parliamentary Joint Committee appeared before the joint committee “Intelligence tells us around 46 per
on Law Enforcement into illicit tobacco, to present industry intelligence cent of people who purchase illicit
which was scheduled recently in the federal upper and lower houses.
The report has been a “long time coming”, according to the multinational tobacco company.
“The illicit tobacco problem in Australia is out of control, with 20.7 per cent
of the market now represented by
illegal products, costing the federal government $3.2 billion in evaded
duty, which instead is funnelled into criminal syndicates with links to serious crimes, including human trafficking and terrorism,” Imperial Brands Head of Corporate and Legal Affairs Kirsten Daggar-Nickson said.
“We’ve been calling for increased
that suggests criminal gangs are gaining in sophistication in order to evade authorities.”
“We recognise the role of governments and public health agencies in the regulation of tobacco products, and support those measures that are reasonable, proportionate and evidence based. However, the government must address the illicit tobacco disaster in Australia, which is also claiming the businesses of legitimate retailers.”
Ms Daggar-Nickson says that while the creation of the Illicit Tobacco Task Force in 2018 was a critical first step, much more needs to be done, with the most pressing area of policy reform
tobacco do so from tobacconists, including the ‘pop up’ category, and Asian supermarkets,” she said. “But the most telling factor is that the ‘others’ category is often the biggest, indicating these products are widely available.
“We’ve called for an increase in law enforcement at retail level to ensure the current ‘top down’ approach
is complemented by a ‘bottom up’ approach, and suggested the inquiry address inadequacies in state and territory legislation and enforcement, especially where it concerns retailers, and an increase in other resources to law enforcement, such as scanning equipment and sniffer dogs.”
RETAIL WORLD JAN/FEB, 2021