Tobacco smugglers could face up to seven years in prison, with the Government announcing a series of new fines and offences in its effort to stub out the black market.
An amendment bill introduced to Parliament last week will increase the maximum prison term for tobacco smuggling and excise evasion from six months to seven years.
Today, the Government said it would also introduce new offences targeting the sale of tobacco that does not meet New Zealand's packaging regulations.
“Unlawful packaging of tobacco is a clear indicator that tobacco has been illicitly imported,” Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said.
In New Zealand, cigarette and other tobacco packaging must include pictures and health warnings, with company marketing imagery removed – illicit tobacco often lacks these features.
The new penalties included a $2000 fine for breaching packaging regulations and a "strict" liability offence for breaching packaging regulations of up to $200,000 for manufacturers, importers, and distributors.
The maximum penalty for an existing knowledge-based offence for breaching packaging regulations will increase from $50,000 to $100,000.
The offence structure and maximum penalties for selling small quantities of tobacco will be aligned with those for packaging.
Consequences will be strengthened for the approval of a specialist vape retailer that breaches regulations.
Costello said the new fines and offences will be introduced through amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990.
“Cheap illegal cigarettes are connected to organised crime; they hit legitimate businesses and tax revenue – and they undermine our efforts to stop people smoking,” Costello said.
“The current regulatory regime stretches across various agencies and doesn’t recognise the seriousness of the issue or provide enforcement agencies the tools required."
She said Customs had seized 12 million cigarettes and 1.7 tonnes of loose tobacco at the border between January and September 1.
“The annual increase in the tobacco excise has been a useful tool to discourage smoking, as well as providing important government revenue. Australia’s experience with a huge slump in excise collection connected to illicit tobacco shows that we need to stop this black market as soon as we can,” Costello said.
“Taken together, these changes will strengthen the Government’s cross-agency response by making it easier to identify, disrupt and penalise illicit activity.”
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