In Australia, the question of the black market in the debates around the new anti-smoking law

The Australian Senate has held a series of hearings to prepare amendments to the new Tobacco and Vaping Products Act. Pro-tobacco advocates have accused anti-smoking laws of fuelling the black market, while health advocates have called for better regulation of tobacco sales.

In many countries, including France, tobacco companies use the argument of illicit trade in tobacco products to counter proposed anti-smoking regulations, whether taxation or plain packaging. This argument was revived in Australia, when the Senate conducted a three-day session of public hearings on the new law on tobacco and vaping products[1].

Concerns over illicit trade in tobacco products

Australian senators raised the issue of the illicit trade in cigarettes and e-cigarettes, among other things, and questioned speakers on the subject.

A week earlier, The Guardian reported a series of arson attacks on tobacco retailers.[2]. 27 shops were set on fire in the space of seven months in the state of Victoria alone. These fires are mainly the result of reprisals between rival gangs, on shops that they own or control in order to resell contraband cigarettes. In August and October 2023, two people linked to cigarette trafficking were also executed during settling of scores.

These cases and anti-smuggling police operations have highlighted the issue of smuggling. They have also served as a reminder that the number of stores selling tobacco products remains unknown. During the summer of 2023, the inspectors National Measurement Institute, responsible for monitoring tobacco sales, had encountered various forms of threats and attempts at corruption. Data from the Australian Taxation Office indicate an increase in the volumes of tobacco seized between 2018 and 2022, and a current increase in the number of seizures[3].

Tobacco industry points to tax increases

Received on October 31, 2023 in one of these hearings, the director of the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS), Theo Foukkare, estimated that smokers do not stop smoking, but that they turn to contraband cigarettes. He particularly blamed the sharp increases in the price of tobacco, which have brought the price of a pack of 30 cigarettes to almost 50 Australian dollars (30 euros). He also opposed the restrictions on the sale of electronic cigarettes, which must now be subject to a medical prescription.

The Senate committee's rapporteur, for her part, pointed out the conflict of interest of the AACS, which receives funding from three international tobacco majors (Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands). She criticized Theo Foukkare for not having disclosed this funding, which strongly influences his testimony, and asked him to update himself on this point as soon as possible.

After increasing by 12.5% per year between 2013 and 2020, smoking prevalence had fallen to 11% of daily smokers in Australia by 2019. A further 15% increase in the price of cigarettes came into effect on 1^er September 2023[4]. Further similar or greater increases are expected to occur by 2026, to bring smoking prevalence to less than 5%.

Health professionals demand the systematization of sales licenses

Speaking on behalf of Cancer Council Australia and the Australian Medical Association, health stakeholders called for stricter regulation of the sale of tobacco and vaping products. Noting that only a quarter of Australians can buy tobacco in a licensed establishment, they called for the generalisation of sales licences and an increase in licence fees. This would allow for better knowledge of retailers and better control of the supply chain. According to the World Bank[5] and the International Monetary Fund, the establishment of a licensing system at all levels of the tobacco distribution chain is a key factor in combating illicit trade, it is also a provision of the protocol to combat illicit trade in tobacco products which Australia has not ratified.

©Tobacco Free Generation

M.F.