Tag: Australia

Australia Cracks Illegal E-Cigarette Importers

Photo: sezerozger
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has fined four individuals and companies more than AUD170,000 ($122,740) for unlawfully advertising or importing vaping products, reports The Guardian.
Since October, Australian vapers have been required to obtain a doctor’s prescription for nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and liquids. Doctors are supposed to prescribe the products only as a last resort when more proven quit treatments fail. The law changes were prompted by concerns about the health impacts of vaping, and data showing children are increasingly using the products.
In response to the new rules, companies have set up websites offering to link vapers to a health practitioner authorized to prescribe the products. But the law allows only pharmacies and pharmacy-marketing groups to advertise in a limited way. Non-pharmacy websites that advertise vaping products or links to online suppliers are likely to be noncompliant with the nicotine advertising permissions.
The fined companies are Mason Online, RV Global Ecommerce, Vapespot and a Melbourne-based individual.
Maurice Swanson, chief executive of the Australian Council on Smoking and Health, said he was pleased with the TGA’s actions.
“We welcome the strong monitoring of illegal advertising which doesn’t meet the guidance provided by the TGA,” he said. “The TGA’s advertising guidelines have been well-known and well-promoted, so companies can’t claim not to have known about it.”
November 23, 2021
Australia to Crack Down on Nicotine Imports

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Effective today, Australian Border Force Agents will have the power to intercept vaping products sent from overseas, reports Filter. Vapers who import nicotine illegally into Australia risk fines of up to AUD222,000 ($161,070).
Australia regulates nicotine for vaping as a medicine. An Australian smoker looking to switch to vaping must visit a doctor and get a prescription. The pharmacy then has to stock the desired vaping product or be able to deliver it. To get around the prescription requirement, many vapers have been importing their products from overseas.
The new rules are meant to end that practice.
Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) head John Skerritt said the ban was to prevent people from taking up nicotine vaping.
“There are a lot of tobacconists and convenience stores, and even things like sex shops, who are selling these products illegally at the moment,” Skerritt told ABC Australia.
“Especially young children; we’ve had many reports of schools, in fact, some even year 7 students, kids who are 11, 12, 13 using high levels of nicotine vapes.
“The trend is on the up in Australia.”
Australia’s prescription model has attracted heavy criticism from tobacco harm reduction proponents, given that combustible cigarettes—which are far more harmful than vapor products—remain readily available as consumer products. The policy will keep smokers smoking, drive vapers back to cigarettes or encourage consumers to purchase illicit products, according to critics.
“The people who will be most affected will be the people who are currently smoking and who decide they want to switch to vaping,” said Alex Wodak, director of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association.
“Some people who are currently vaping will undoubtedly go back to combustible cigarettes.”
About 2.5 million Australians still smoke, with around 21,000 smoking-related deaths every year. There could be up to 600,000 vapers in Australia, according to some estimates.
October 1, 2021
Vapers Urged to See Doctor Ahead of Rules

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is urging Australian vapers to make appointments with their general practitioners to discuss their smoking cessation options ahead of new vaping rules.
Effective Oct. 1, Australian consumers will need a valid prescription to legally obtain nicotine vaping products, such as nicotine e-cigarettes, nicotine pods and liquid nicotine, from an overseas website. A valid prescription is already required to purchase nicotine vaping products from Australian pharmacies.
Purchase of nicotine vaping products from other Australian sources will remain illegal, the TGA said in guidance documents released on Aug. 12.
From Oct. 1, Australian Border Force officials can stop an import at the Australian border and destroy the product if they suspect that it is unlawful and there is not a prescription available.
According to the TGA, the new rules balance the need to prevent adolescents and young adults from taking up nicotine vaping (and potentially smoking) while enabling current smokers to readily access these products for smoking cessation with appropriate medical advice.
While the TGA has not yet registered any nicotine vaping products, the agency says it is working closely with several potential applicant companies.
August 16, 2021
Plain Packaging Impacted Smoking

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Plain packaging has had a measurable impact on smoking rates in Australia, according to Melanie Wakefield, who heads the Center for Behavioral Research at the Cancer Council of Victoria and was also on the advisory group to government on plain packaging implementation.
Data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey estimated about 11.6 percent of Australian adults smoke daily, down from 12.8 percent in 2016 and more than half the 25 percent who smoked in 1991.
Plain packaging was not the only reform introduced to help bring down the rate, however. Taxes on tobacco were upped by 25 percent in 2010 and then increased by 12.5 percent each year from 2013 to 2020.
Nonetheless, speaking with The Sydney Morning Herald, Wakefield estimates that plain packaging accounted for about a quarter of the total decline in smoking prevalence in three years after plain packaging, leaving Australia with about 100,000 fewer smokers as a result.
Importantly, she says, it has also had an impact on youth smoking rates.
“In the last national survey, only 5 percent of secondary school students had smoked in the last week, and that was down by a third from before plain packaging.”
In December 2012, Australia became the first country to require tobacco companies to sell their products in drab olive-brown boxes stripped of branding but featuring large pictures of smoking-related diseases.
Tobacco companies challenged the move in various courts, saying it not only breached trademark laws and intellectual property rights but would also boost black market sales. Libertarians characterized plain packaging as a “nanny state” measure.
Now, 20 countries, including the U.K., Turkey, France, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ukraine, have brought in their own versions of plain packaging legislation.
July 13, 2021
Illegal Tobacco Destroyed in Australia
Australian authorities destroy illicit tobacco at Beverford
(Video: OTA)
Australian law enforcement officers uncovered more than 40 hectares of illegal tobacco on properties on either side of the Victoria-New South Wales (NSW) border, reports The Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Based on the excise that would be charged on legal tobacco of the same weight, the tobacco’s potential value was estimated at $84.3 million.
More than 183 tons of tobacco was found during raids on a property at Kyalite, in southwest NSW. The Natural Resources Access Regulator participated in the action to investigate possible water theft.
“That’s the biggest crop we have discovered to date,” said Australian Border Force Commander Greg Linsdell, who headed up the taskforce.
Another crop was found on the same day at Beverford, on the Victorian side of the border, where ATO officers destroyed 183 tons of illicit tobacco along with 140 kg of processed tobacco bales.
The next day, another 60.7 tons of illicit tobacco was seized and destroyed on a third property at nearby Vinifera.
That’s the biggest crop we have discovered to date.
Gred Linsdell, head of The Illicit Tobacco Taskforce
Tobacco cultivation has been illegal in Australia for more than a decade. The country’s illicit tobacco market is worth about $822 million a year in evaded revenue. Linsdell said many organized crime syndicates, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, were involved in illegal tobacco production. “[The proceeds] are going into the hands of criminals to be used for other crimes, and buying this stuff, supporting this market, is a crime as well,” he said.
While charges were yet to be laid, those convicted of tobacco cultivation face penalties of up to 10 years behind bars.
March 10, 2021
Australia to Require Prescription for Nicotine

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Australians importing liquid nicotine for e-cigarettes will need to have a prescription from Oct. 1, reports The Sydney Morning Herald, citing the country’s medical watchdog.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said its decision balanced consumer demand for the product as a smoking cessation aid and the potential for nicotine e-cigarettes to lead to addiction.
“A patient’s doctor is uniquely placed to give the support required for long-lasting smoking cessation,” the agency said, adding that it had not yet approved any vapor product as a smoking-cessation aid.
In response to the TGA’s decision, the government will scrap contentious customs regulations, which included a fine of up to $200,000 for those illegally importing nicotine. The regulation was opposed by a large group of backbenchers, and due to kick in from the start of next year.
The possession of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes is illegal without a prescription in every state and territory, besides South Australia.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said it was important to note that any doctor could prescribe nicotine-based e-cigarettes.
“This is not widely understood, and it is an important matter of public information that over 30,000 GPs may currently, and in the future, prescribe nicotine-based e-cigarettes for smoking cessation,” he said.
Critics say Australia’s prescription-only policy is hampered by the reluctance of many general practitioners to prescribe liquid nicotine and by a requirement to seek a special exemption for each patient.
December 21, 2020
Activists Propose Prescription Sales for Cigarettes

Australia already bans the display of tobacco products in stores. (Photo: Taco Tuinstra)
The Center for Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame (CREATE) wants Australia to reduce the number of tobacco retailers, restrict sales to outlets such as pharmacies and consider making cigarettes available on prescription only.
“An effective tobacco endgame strategy should accelerate the decline in smoking prevalence while assisting governments, retailers and people who smoke to transition to a smoke-free society,” Coral Gartner, director of CREATE, was quoted as saying by 9News.
Researchers also suggested ending sales to people born after a specified year and phasing out commercial cigarette sales.
Department of Health figures showed about 2.3 million people smoke tobacco daily in Australia—less than 15 percent of adults. The federal government aims to reduce that figure to 10 percent by 2025.
Smoking prevalence has been declining at an average rate of about 0.4 percent per year since 2010.
Australia is a global tobacco control leader and has been at the cutting edge of many new policies, including plain packaging.
October 16, 2020
E-cigarettes to be Made Prescription-Only

Starting next year, vapor products will be available to consumers only by a doctor’s prescription, Australia’s drug regulator said on Wednesday.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced its interim decision to reclassify nicotine as a prescription-only medication, meaning nicotine for use in e-cigarettes, and e-juice containing nicotine, would become prescription-only from June 2021, according to The Guardian.
The changes would also affect heat-not-burn tobacco products, chewing tobacco, snuff and other novel nicotine products. The decision is open for consultation until Nov. 6.
Existing state and territory laws make the sale of nicotine e-cigarettes and e-juice illegal throughout Australia and its possession illegal everywhere but in South Australia.
In a statement, the TGA said the proposed changes meant that “while you would still be able to use the ‘personal importation scheme’ under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 to order online from your usual supplier … it would be clear that you would be required to have a prescription”.
“You would also be able to fill your prescription at your local community pharmacy, however your pharmacy may have to order it in for you,” the statement said.
September 23, 2020
Australian Cigarette Prices Hit New Records

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Australian cigarettes are 12.5 percent more expensive following a price hike on Sept. 1.

Successive tax hikes from April 2010 have made Australian cigarettes among the most expensive in the world. Following the most recent increase, a 25-stick pack of Marlboro Gold cigarettes now costs AUD48.50 ($35.63) while the average 20-pack costs around AUD35.

That means a pack-a-day smoker will spend AUD12,500 over the course of a year.

Australian tobacco taxes generate around AUS17 billion per year in tax revenue. According to Cancer Council Victoria, they also contribute to declining smoking rates.

Smoking among Australians aged 14 and over declined from 17.87 percent of the population to 13.3 percent between April 2020 and April 2017, according to the charity.

The Covid-19 crisis could drive smoking lower still. Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed that four times as many smokers have tried to quit during the pandemic amid concerns that smokers will be hit harder by the virus should they contract it.
September 2, 2020
Australia Rejects Tobacco Heating Products

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia rejected an application from Philip Morris (PM) that would have allowed the sale of heated-tobacco products.

This follows the Australian government’s ban on the import of nicotine-based e-cigarettes. Health Minister Greg Hunt planned to implement the ban beginning July 1 of this year, but the ban has now been pushed back to the beginning of 2021 to allow those who have been using e-cigarettes with nicotine to quit smoking combustibles to get prescriptions and end their addiction.

The ban would make the import of vaporizer nicotine and e-cigarettes allowable only with a doctor’s prescription.

There were 82 submissions in the TGA decision that supported heated-tobacco products, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that PM’s tobacco-heating product “is expected to benefit the health of the population as a whole.” The TGA received submissions from the Lung Foundation, Cancer Council Australia, Australian Council on Health and Smoking, and the National Heart Foundation, though, that stated their concerns regarding public health risks of heated-tobacco products. The TGA ultimately decided there were “significant safety concerns with heated-tobacco products,” according to news.com.au.

“Study after study shows that scientifically substantiated smoke-free products that do not generate smoke, while not risk-free, are a much better alternative for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke cigarettes,” said Tammy Chan, Philip Morris managing director. “It’s time Australian authorities recognize that many adult smokers will continue to smoke cigarettes—the most harmful way of consuming nicotine—unless the government rethinks its tobacco control policy. Smoke-free products can play a role in reducing smoking rates.”

According to Chan, Australia’s stance on smoke-free products is at odds with other countries; heated-tobacco products are available in 50 other countries.
August 24, 2020