THE Australian Border Force (ABF)will ramp up the fight against black market nicotine products with the appointment of Erin Dale (pictured) as its new interim Illicit Tobacco and Cigarette Commissioner.
Awaiting her formal appointment, Dale is currently an ABF Assistant Commissioner, leading the Tobacco and E-Cigarette Taskforce.
She has previously held various senior executive positions across ABF, including leading all national and regional border operations at the Australian ports, overseeing travel, trade facilitation, and enforcement functions.
Since new regulations banning the import of disposable vapes began on 01 Jan (PD 29 Nov 2023), the ABF and TGA have jointly seized close to 2.9 million illicit vapes.
Additionally, until 30 April, the ABF reported it had seized more than 112 tonnes of tobacco and 608 million cigarettes.
The establishment of the Commissioner role follows the recent launch of the government's $63.4 million 'Give Up For Good' campaign, which is raising awareness of the imapcts of smoking and vaping, and encouraging people to take up the expanded quit support services. JG
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