Source: New Zealand Government
Customs, Police, Health New Zealand, and the Ministry of Health have joined forces to better target and dismantle the illegal tobacco trade, Customs Minister Casey Costello announced today.
“Customs is seizing increasing quantities of black-market cigarettes and tobacco and there are more widespread and blatant retail sales of these illegal products,” Ms Costello says.
“We’re not yet facing the same issues as Australia, but we do not want to go there.
Illegal cigarettes are connected to organised crime; they hit legitimate businesses and tax revenue – and they undermine our efforts to stop people smoking. It’s harder to encourage people to quit or use cheaper, safer alternatives like vapes when they can get their hands on cheap cigarettes.
“As with other organised crime, stopping illicit tobacco requires an organised government response and that involves Customs, Health and Police working together.”
The regulatory and enforcement regime around tobacco is currently complex with agencies having different roles and responsibilities set by different pieces of legislation. The Ministry of Health sets tobacco control policy and enforces smokefree legislation, while Health NZ operates the investigation teams that check retail compliance around under-age sales and inappropriate packaging. Overall responsibility for illicit tobacco sits with Customs, which predominantly operates at the border and is focused on excise evasion, while Police have a role in supporting enforcement, investigations, and prosecutions.
“The individual agencies are doing their roles well and there is good cooperation around operations and local initiatives, but we need to bring all of these powers and resources together as effectively as we can to stop this black market,” Ms Costello says.
“Early last month I asked the agencies to come together to develop an operational plan to address the importation, storage and distribution, and sale of illegal cigarettes.”
The agencies have established an Action Group focused on coordinating the operational response and a senior official’s group for oversight. Agencies maintain their core roles, but with improved planning, information sharing, and joint operations.
“A key shift, given the involvement of criminal gangs in the illicit trade, is formalising the role of Police in supporting other enforcement activity,” Ms Costello says. “There have been good recent examples of how this can work, with Health NZ working with Police to stop illegal sales in Rotorua and the Waikato. Police constables seized 99,000 cigarettes and more than 13 kilograms of loose tobacco in these operations.
“Customs and Police have also stepped up their engagement with overseas counterparts. As with other illegal trade, New Zealand benefits from stopping supply before it gets to our country.”
The Minister said that while the operation response is immediate, Health officials were also working on improving the legislation around tobacco control.
“We need a better regulatory and enforcement regime, backed by tougher penalties. Regulations need to support our health objectives – stopping people smoking and the harm from smoking – and recognise the problems of the illicit market. That means having visibility and control over who imports, stores, and sells cigarettes and tobacco.
“In the meantime, we have to keep pressure on stopping criminal supply and the public has a key role,” Ms Costello says. “Buying cheap cigarettes isn’t a harmless crime. Money from the sale of these cigarettes funds gangs and overseas cartels and leads to violent crime, intimidation, and extortion in our communities.”
To provide information around illegal sales, people can: