Australian Border Force (ABF) has issued a notice on new laws which will make bringing tobacco products into Australia illegal from 1st July 2019.

According to these new laws a person will need to have a permit issued by the Department of Home Affairs to be able to bring any tobacco product including cigarettes, molasses tobacco, and loose-leaf tobacco.

Duty and taxes on these products will still continue to apply.

Importers will be required to lodge a written application along with supporting documentation to obtain a permit. All permits will be subject to conditions or requirements.

Australian Border Force

Further information on how to apply for a permit is not yet available and the website states it will be made available shortly.

The Government says it introduced these measures to combat the illicit tobacco trade as part of the 2018-19 Budget ‘Black Economy Package – combatting illicit tobacco’.

Public health is a major issue. ABF in the past has detected poisons such formaldehyde and found rat feces inside illicit tobacco.

The notice further states that smokeless tobacco products, cigars, and tobacco products imported by travellers within duty-free limits will be exempt from the new import prohibition.

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How does this affect you?

When travelling to Australia you can bring tobacco products with you but certain restrictions apply.

If aged 18 or over you are allowed to bring one unopen packet of up to 25 cigarettes and one open packet of cigarettes.

Bringing more than the duty-free allowance of tobacco products will require you to pay duty on all your tobacco products, not just the above allowance.

Up to 1.5 kilograms of smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco or snuff) is allowed for personal use but you will need to pay duty on it.

Anyone planning to bring more than 1.5 kilograms of smokeless tobacco will need to apply for permission by writing to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

For further information click here.

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