Pressures and challenges on the ground for tobacco inspectors in Australia

By asking its inspectors to assess the extent of the illicit cigarette trade instead of checking for compliance with plain packaging, the National Measurement Institute is suspected of overstepping its duties and placing its agents in difficulty in the field.

Commissioned by the federal Department of Health to assess compliance with Australia's standardised plain packaging law for cigarettes, the National Measurement Institute (NMI), affiliated with the Department of Industry, has tasked its inspectors with carrying out "information visits" to outlets to check the compliance of the products sold.

An audit of these visits by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has however shown that the inspectors' interventions exceeded their remit. The NMI inspectors were in fact asked by their superiors to take advantage of these fact-finding visits to uncover illicit cigarette trade, which goes beyond the prerogatives of the initial mission of controlling plain packaging for which they were trained.[1].

Inappropriate use of neutral packaging services

The mission entrusted to the NMI by the Ministry of Health authorises its inspectors to carry out inspection visits to tobacco outlets. The number of these outlets has been significantly reduced in Australia, but is still considerable. The ANAO thus criticises the Ministry of Industry and the NMI for having taken advantage of the mission to assess the implementation of standardised plain packaging to try to meet its own missions to control illicit trade, including that of cigarettes. It also questions the fact that this activity of detecting illicit products was carried out to the detriment of the other objectives of controlling outlets which are in principle the responsibility of the NMI.

By asking its inspectors to investigate illicit trade without being explicitly authorized to do so, the NMI has also placed some of its officers in difficulty. Testimonies of threats and attempted bribery have been collected, indicating that the inspectors fear for their safety and that of their loved ones.[2]They also highlight significant moral pressures. These feelings were all the more acute as the inspectors lived in the vicinity of the sites they were monitoring.

Responding appropriately to illicit trade

The ANAO therefore reminded the Ministry of Industry that it is only supposed to entrust its agents with missions that they are legally and able to carry out. Operations to control illicit trade require not only an authority other than that of the Ministry of Health, but also legal skills that the NMI inspectors do not have. The latter would indeed require support from the police forces. The ANAO therefore invited the Ministries of Health and Industry to come together to better define their common and respective missions, as well as the manner in which they are to be carried out.

This experience highlights the importance of good structuring and coordination of controls, particularly in the area of the fight against smoking and illicit trade.

Keywords: Australia, NMI, points of sale, plain packaging, illicit trade.

[1] Macdonald A, DISR prioritizing Health's work over its own, finds ANAO, The Mandarin, published September 6, 2023, accessed the same day.

[2] Osborne P, Threats and snatch fears confront tobacco 'inspectors', PerthNow, published September 5, 2023, accessed September 6, 2023.