Submission to the inquiry into the Illegal tobacco crisis in Australia

FTA and APSA lodged a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee outlining targeted, practical reforms to address the escalating illegal tobacco trade, which is increasingly driven by organised and sophisticated criminal networks exploiting supply chain vulnerabilities.

The submission highlights that while industry supports robust enforcement, current intervention models are creating significant and often disproportionate impacts on legitimate trade, particularly through extended container holds, storage and detention costs.

Key positions and recommendations advanced by FTA/APSA include:

• introducing a direct payment model for duty and GST in sea cargo, requiring cargo owners to provide banking details directly to Australian Border Force (ABF), reducing reliance on intermediaries and mitigating identity theft and 'piggybacking' risks
• convening a targeted ABF–industry roundtable (including stevedores and shipping lines) to establish clearer, more consistent frameworks for managing the downstream impacts of cargo interventions
• ensuring adequate ABF resourcing to match increased inspection volumes, maintaining enforcement effectiveness while avoiding unnecessary disruption to compliant trade