By ILIESA TORA Nuku’alofa (TDN): If you are thinking of - TopicsExpress



          

By ILIESA TORA Nuku’alofa (TDN): If you are thinking of smuggling kava Tonga into Australia then think again. The Australian Customs and Border Protection Services (ACBPS) says they will make you pay for your illegal act if you are caught. Responding to queries raised with them during the week, the ACBPS said Tongans who want to take over the exempted quantity of two (2) kilograms into Australia must follow due process. “The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) takes its responsibilities at the border very seriously. We have a range of measures in place to detect illicit, prohibited or restricted goods being brought into Australia, including analysis of intelligence, document review, x-ray technology and physical examinations,” a Senior Media and Communication Officer from the ACBPS Communication Department told the Tonga Daily News by email. “Kava may be imported under an exemption that allows passengers aged 18 years or over to import up to two (2) kilograms in their accompanied baggage, in root or powder form, in recognition of kava’s traditional use by certain groups in the community. “To import kava outside of the exemption, a licence and permit is required. These are only issued for scientific or medical use and are not able to be obtained for personal use.” Individuals who wish to import Kava for personal or cultural use must comply with the exemption described above. Those caught attempting to import kava in excess of the passenger exemption can face heavy penalties. “ACBPS officers are authorised to seize and destroy goods, such as kava, that are controlled under the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956,” the senior officer said. “Penalties for importing kava without a permit can include fines of up to three times the value of the goods or AUD $170,000, whichever is greater.” The warning comes following three cases uncovered by the ACBPS in the last two years. A Tongan man was fined AUD$900,000, equivalent to almost $1.8 million Pa’anga on Friday, March 12, 2012, in the New South Wales Supreme Court for the illegal importation of almost four tonnes of kava into Australia with an estimated street value of over $2.5 million. The Tongan national was fined $900,000 for illegally importing kava and making a false statement under the Customs Act 1901 (Cth). “This is the largest seizure of kava in Australian history and it was a very significant find by Customs and Border Protection officers,” Kingsley Woodford-Smith, Customs and Border Protection National Manager, Investigations said. “This detection has protected the people in our community from four tonnes of this potentially harmful substance.” The operation commenced in November 2008, when Customs and Border Protection officers targeted a consignment for examination at the Port Botany Container Examination Facility. The consignment from Tonga was declared as ‘frozen vegetables’ however officers identified inconsistencies in the bags of vegetables. Upon further examination, it was discovered that many of the bags contained kava. Kava is a shrub belonging to the pepper family, Piperaceae with the root or stump of the shrub contains kavalactones, which have sedative and muscle-relaxant effects. Excessive use of kava is associated with a number of health-related problems including loss of muscle control, shortness of breath and irreversible kidney and liver damage as well as negative physiological and social impacts. On February 7, 2013 Customs and Border Protection officers at Sydney Airport seized almost 80 kilograms of kava. The officers targeted a 48-year-old man who arrived on a flight from Tonga for a full baggage examination. In searching the man’s bags the officers found 77.6 kilograms of kava in plastic bags. Customs and Border Protection Acting National Manager Airport Operations North, Allison Denny-Collins, said passengers aged 18 years or over can only import up to two kilograms of kava without prior permission. “For larger amounts of kava, importers must obtain a licence to import controlled substances and also an import permit for each consignment of kava,” Ms Denny-Collins said. “The licence and import permit must be obtained from the Office of Chemical Safety before travel.” On September 6, 2013 a 33 year old New Zealand woman was fined $11,000 for attempting to import over 22kg of kava through Brisbane airport. Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) officers seized the undeclared kava during a baggage examination, after the woman arrived on a flight from New Zealand on June 7, 2013. The 22.1kg of kava was packaged in 25 gram individual bags. The matter was heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on September 6 2013, where the woman was found guilty. She was fined: $2,000 for making a false or misleading statement under Section 234(1)(d)(i) of the Customs Act 1901 and ordered to pay costs of $918.20; and $8,000 for importing prohibited goods under Section 233(1)(b) of the Customs Act 1901 and ordered to pay costs of $481.10. ACBPS National Manager Airport Operations North, Craig Sommerville, said this case should be a warning to others that the importation of controlled substances was taken very seriously by the ACBPS. “Those caught attempting to import kava without an import permit can face heavy penalties,” Mr Sommerville added.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 03:23:19 +0000

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