From: The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
ILLEGAL cigarettes being smuggled into Australia have soared before plain packaging laws start, a Tobacco Inc-funded report claims.
The industry claims the boom is fostering organised crime amid the nation’s shooting sprees and bikie wars.
A report to be released today says smuggled counterfeit and contraband cigarettes tripled last year, slashing $1 billion from federal tax coffers.
The report by Deloitte found that, overall, illicit tobacco reduced slightly during 2011, but underwent a major structural change, with counterfeit products imitating brands and other contraband packets made overseas more than tripling.
Counterfeit items totalled 407,000kg last year, up from 116,000kg, while contraband also rose to 430,000kg, up from 134,000kg.
The report was commissioned by the nation’s tobacco giants as they fight the federal government in the High Court over plain packaging laws, to begin in December.
