Australia is facing an explosion in the tobacco black market that’s now the country’s biggest public-health threat, Health Minister Mark Butler said Friday, warning the government plans a major crackdown to prosecute offenders.
Butler also blamed the rise in illegal cigarette sales for a decline in government revenue from excise duties. The huge rise in the black market is a massive setback for Australia, which pioneered plain packaging laws, high excises to drive up the price of cigarettes, and aggressive anti-smoking campaigns.