Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Carolyn Young: Retail NZ CEO on the growing illicit tobacco black market in New Zealand

Transcript

Carolyn Young: Retail NZ CEO on the growing illicit tobacco black market in New Zealand · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Charlie Z sounding the alarm on illegal tobacco. A new
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: report has found as much as twenty seven percent of
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: tobacco consumed here is illegally imported and not being taxed.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: There's a warning as well, the black market could turn violent,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: just like we've seen in Australia. Carolyn Young, Retail and
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Z chief executive, with me this morning. Hey Carolyn, Carolyn,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: good to hear from you. Good morning, Yeah, good morning.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Hey.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Why have you guys decided to do a report on
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: illegal tobacco.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Look, it's such a major issue in Australia with international
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  Speaker 2: organized crime groups running the tobacco market in Australia. We
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: see over one hundred fire bombs that have occurred in
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  Speaker 2: the state of Victoria alone, and organized crime on an
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  Speaker 2: international scale brings with it a lot of other things.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: We obviously support retailers, We support legitimate businesses doing providing
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: great services to our communities. As soon as you start
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: looking at organized crime infiltrating into a legitimate market, it
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: changes the landscape, brings with it more crime that we
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  Speaker 2: already know is difficult in New Zealand to manage retail crime,
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: and we believe that we need to act now while
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  Speaker 2: we've got this window of opportunity before we reach the
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  Speaker 2: stages that it's at in Australia.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Retailers, some retailers are part of the problem here, aren't they.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: And I saw that there was this case study in
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  Speaker 1: your piece about a retailer who was selling illegal tobacco products.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, and I think for that particular store, we did
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  Speaker 2: that case study. And I would use the term retailer
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  Speaker 2: loosely because you know that store is only illicit product
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  Speaker 2: and we believe is run by an organized crime group.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: It's a car boot situation. Our retailer's aredea dairies selling
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: illegal tobacco.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: There will be some that will be selling it under
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  Speaker 2: the counter illegal, that's correct, and model happened. What happened
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: in Australia is that explosion where we've got to now
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: we're nearly eighty percent of sales in Australia are illicit.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: You know, basically, the international gangs come in and they
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: run a lot of out of the Middle East and
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: out of China. They're running these illicit tobacco stores and
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: then they're setting them up quite close to other businesses
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  Speaker 2: like a superses or like a dairy or like a
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: vape store. And then what happens is that those stores
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: their business just to clines, so they pressured into selling
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  Speaker 2: the illicit tobacco as well.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: You're wanting to it. There's a whole bunch of stuff
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  Speaker 1: if you've asked for, including a working group and some
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  Speaker 1: money and stuff. But it's like drugs. You'll never stop
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: at all, will you end in. The reason it's happening
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: is because of the price the tax on them. They're
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: like fifty bucks for a packet of twenty, so people
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  Speaker 1: are going to go to the black market.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: That's right, there's an opportunity therefore, a black market to infiltration.
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  Speaker 2: In Australia, the exercise is even higher, which is why
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: it's really taken off. You know in Australia they're trying
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: to close the gate autter. The horse has already bolted
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: because it's so far at heead and they didn't acknowledge
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: there was an issue. We have spoken to the minister.
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  Speaker 2: She's aware of the issue and wants to take action.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: And so you know, this report ready outlines some immediate
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  Speaker 2: things that should be done and you know the need
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  Speaker 2: to get together around table of all of the interested
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  Speaker 2: parties your customs, health Police, ourselves to sit down and
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  Speaker 2: investigate further. Some of these recommendations we've made because we
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: don't have all the answers, but what we do know
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: is that something needs to be done and we need
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: to act now.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Carol and Young Retailing is their chief executive. For more
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, Listen live to news
• 3:40
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• 3:43
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