Press Releases

Representatives of thousands of small businesses say penalties “clearly insufficient” after Victorian man fined just $1000 in illegal tobacco case Retail industry leaders have united to call for a renewed focus on laws to crack down on illicit tobacco after a Victorian court case in which a man who admitted to illegal possession and distribution of large amounts of illicit cigarettes was punished with a $1000 fine. The leaders of the Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS), the Master Grocers Asso-ciation (MGA) and the Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association (ALNA) said deterrents for participating in the booming tobacco black market were clearly insufficient. “Enough is enough. We know that hundreds of millions of dollars in federal tax revenue are being lost to the illegal tobacco trade, which supports other activities of criminal syndicates,” the associations said. “It also inflicts enormous costs on legitimate businesses who play important roles in their…

• Over-the-top new laws that make it illegal to buy nicotine vaping products in Australia without a GP prescription come into force on October 1 • Convenience store owners across the country are concerned about facing wide-spread confusion from the change • Industry body AACS calls for sensible, well-regulated sales of nicotine products in line with New Zealand and the United Kingdom The new Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulations on the sale of nicotine vaping and e-cigarette products begin on Friday October 1, with thousands of Australian retailers and hundreds-of-thousands of Australians likely unaware of what these changes mean. The new laws being rolled out by the Federal Government mean it will be illegal to purchase vaping or e-cigarette products in Australia without a valid prescription from a doctor. Australians who already use nicotine vaping or e-cigarette products will now be forced to sit in a waiting room, consult with…

The Tasmanian Government appears to have its head in the sand on the issue of nicotine vaping and e-cigarettes, by simply advising the retailers there is nothing changing, when the new Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulations for the sale of nicotine vaping products, comes into play on the 1st of October the Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) said today. “Yesterday’s statements by the Health Minister were disappointing in the extreme”, AACS, CEO Theo Foukkare said. “There are thousands of Tasmanians currently using nicotine e-cigarettes as a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes who will need to get a prescription from 1st October. “However, the Tasmanian Government appears to be doing everything they can to prevent this from happening by unfairly demonising the product, meaning there will be some very frustrated vapers at the start of next month. “The Tasmanian Health Department have had the opportunity to separate regulations under…

The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) has strongly contested claims being made about the alleged sale of nicotine containing vaping devices to minors by convenience stores. “Our retailers have extremely high standards, especially when it comes to selling tobacco related products, and anything with regard to youth,” AACS CEO Theo Foukkare said. “It is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under 18 years of age, and our members strictly abide by this. In fact, most of our members have a policy to ask for proof-of-age if a customer looks to be under 25. “In addition, nicotine containing vaping products are illegal for any Australian retailer to sell today, either in store or online. “Zero nicotine containing vaping products are legally able to be sold in some states and fall under each state’s strict Tobacco Act, which all include compliance measures such as 18-plus, restriction in their display and…

The Federal Government’s decision to push ahead with a prescription-based model for nicotine e-cigarettes has the potential to slow the vaccine roll-out and entrench a black market for vaping products. Australia lags most of the developed world in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and is well short of its own targets. By the Federal Government’s own admission, Australia’s vaccine rollout won’t gain pace until October – the same month it was supposed to be completed with much of this work falling on GPs. It therefore makes no sense that at a time when GPs’ & Pharmacies workloads will be massively increasing, the Government will be forcing 520,000 e-cigarette using ex-smokers into GP waiting rooms to obtain a prescription for nicotine.   GP and other health professionals time is precious and finite, so it really must be queried if having 520,000 ex-smokers who are not sick and have already quit…

Industry groups welcome COVID assistance as businesses face catastrophe Industry groups the National Retail Association (NRA), the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA), and the Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) have welcomed the latest round of assistance measures as businesses in key parts of the country face catastrophe. The assistance measures come immediately after the three associations announced a suite of proposals aimed at keeping lockdown affected businesses alive. Announcements by state and federal governments in the past 24 hours that the NRA, FCA and AACS have advocated for include: Emergency cash payments to businesses (subject to criteria) in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia; Tenancy relief (subject to criteria) in both New South Wales and Victoria. NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said the assistance measures come at a make or break moment for many retailers in lockdown affected regions. “The Greater Sydney and Melbourne regions are Australia’s two largest…