Joanna Mather
August 24, 2017
AFR
Liberal senator Eric Abetz says pinning down the authority or regulator responsible for the trade in illicit tobacco was like trying to catch a “greasy pig”.
Senator Abetz, who sits on a parliamentary committee running an inquiry into illegal tobacco, reserved his harshest criticism for the Department of Health.”The health department denies that it is responsible for coordinating the government response, but it seems to be a bit like a greasy pig,” he said.
“When you try to pin down a department or group they tend to be able to slip out of your grasp and go ‘that’s somebody else’s fault’. Hence the greasy pig analogy.”
Senator Abetz made the comments following the release of a new report on organised crime released by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission on Thursday.
He said serious and organised crime was “entrenched” in the illegal tobacco market, both through the importation of black market products and growing of tobacco here, which is banned without a licence and no licences are current.
“This report highlights that in just one year, more than 22 tonnes of tobacco and 52 million cigarettes were seized as well as illegal domestic crops worth $11 million being shut down – and that’s just what has been caught,” Senator Abetz said.
The Australian Financial Review revealed how illegal tobacco is sold in hundreds of shops seemingly unchecked by state or federal authorities. Buck-passing appears rife.
Senator Abetz said he was disappointed when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission earlier this year rejected a bid by British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco, and Philip Morris to jointly cease supplying retailers or wholesalers they considered to be supplying illicit tobacco.
“Nobody seems to have genuinely taken responsibility for it and sadly when the ACCC matter was brought, the health department was not supportive,” he said.
“I think the health department is nearly in the frame of mind that tobacco is dirty, therefore we cannot and will not co-operate with them, whereas on this occasion their interests actually coincide.”
The health department was contacted for comment but did not respond by deadline.
Australian Border Force has told the Financial Review it is getting “record results”. Since the establishment of a tobacco strike force in 2015, more than 40 tonnes of smuggled tobacco and 95 million smuggled cigarettes have been seized, it says. The government has yet to announce renewed funding for the strike force.
In a statement, the ACCC said it denied the tobacco companies’ request because it would have given them a quasi-regulator role.
The proposed conduct also “raised competition concerns and was likely to have limited effectiveness in reducing sales of illicit tobacco”.
“To the extent that ceasing supply is effective, tobacco companies are currently able to individually stop supply to particular retailers or wholesalers they find to be supplying illicit tobacco without the need for ACCC authorisation,” the statement said.
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