Can You Grow Your Own Tobacco In Australia

Tobacco, one of the highest selling commercial crops is grown on 4 million hectares of land in over than 130 countries in the world. This plant is grown in the same land as banana and orange grove plantation which means it requires fertile soil to make it grows well. With the fact that this plant can be easily found in almost ¾ of total countries in the world, can Australians actually grow this plant as well? This interesting question will about to be answered in this article using the government’s law and regulations for preference.

According to the statistics, there four biggest tobacco producers are China, India, Brazil and the USA. These four countries produce up to 67% of total world’s tobacco leaf production. In fact, China alone annually produces 40% of world’s tobacco leaf. Since the 1960s, global tobacco production has sharply increased reaching around 30%. In the year of 2006 alone, global tobacco production reached the number of 7 million metric tons. This simple fact shows how high the world’s demand is for tobacco products especially cigarettes including in Australia. Perhaps your question why you should grow your own plant instead of purchasing tobacco products. Well, for some people, growing their own tobacco plants gives them the sense of freedom as they can simply harvest the leaves or seeds for consumption.

Australians Grow Tobacco Under Radar

Let’s talk about the fact first. There are some people who have actually been growing tobacco plants in several parts across Australia without government being aware of the plants’ existence. Some plants are planted outside in the backyard while other plants are grown inside the greenhouses. The truth is the greenhouse is actually an ideal place for tobacco plants to grow because it's well protected. So, you don't have to be surprised knowing some of your neighbors actually harvest both the leaves and seeds from their tobacco plants growing in the backyard.

If you're really curious about how the Australian government respond to tobacco plantation or garden that the locals are managing, it's important to read the existing law and regulation. With some short researches done regarding law on tobacco plant in Australia, we have been able to find the actual low set by Australian government. Make sure to read and memorize the law and regulations in case you want to grow the plant by yourself.

Australia Law Act 1901

According to the Act set in 1901, Australia government forbids people living in Australia to produce tobacco leaves, tobacco plants and also tobacco seeds without producer license. This law is rather very old as it was dated back in 1901 but it's still applied until now. According to this law, a person should obtain producer license first before growing, dealing in and moving tobacco plants, seed and leaves. A person who is planning to deal in which includes selling and buying the tobacco plants, leaves and seed, she should obtain a dealer license first which is granted under Exercise Act.

Meanwhile, a person should obtain permission which is granted under Excise Act before he can move the tobacco plant, seed and leaves. This law and regulation makes it clear that it's possible for both individual and enterprise to produce tobacco product as long as they obtain the license. So, the Australian government doesn't fully forbid tobacco plantation.

Despite this law and regulation allowing Australians to grow and produce tobacco products, almost all tobacco companies based in Australia are now importing tobacco leaves from other countries instead of growing the plants and harvesting the leaves by themselves. Perhaps, it's due to the fact that tobacco agriculture is closely related to various public health and environmental concerns including the use of pesticide and fertilizer which ruin and contaminate the water resources. And, it also leads to massive deforestation because the tobacco leaves are required to be cured using wood fuel. Furthermore, there is also high health risk of the tobacco agricultural workers get pesticide poisoning, lung damage, green tobacco sickness and also other health risks.

History of Tobacco Plant in Australia

Discussion regarding the tobacco plant’s history in Australia is certainly a great way to get to know better with this very popular plant. During the early years of settlement, to be particular in 1818 in New South Wales, the governor Macquarie was the first person planting tobacco plants. It was the first tobacco planting experiment which was then first cultivated in 1820s by Hunter Valley farmers. Knowing how potential this plant was, the growing area was extended to Queensland and Victoria. In particular, the federal government of Australia supports the tobacco industry that was growing in the early 1900s by implementing the Local Leaf Content Scheme. This regulation encourages the local manufacturers to use minimum percentage of local tobacco leaf in the production. This was practice to support the local farmers.

In 1970s, the growing was reaching the peak with almost 16.000 tons of tobacco leaves sold annually. However, this high production number was slowly decreasing that in 2006, there were only 4.000 tons of leaves sold. There are some factors causing the decrease in tobacco production including the reduction in protective tariff which allows the manufacturers to buy tobacco leaves on international market for cheaper price. The declining tobacco consumption among the Australians is another factor. As a result, the overall tobacco leaf production sharply decreased. Nowadays, there is no commercial tobacco farming found in the land of Australia. Government support was one of the supporting factors as both the state and federal governments implement a particular program where tobacco farmers were granted with government- finance restructuring grants so they can leave the tobacco industry.

Australia’s government decision to reduce support for tobacco industry was based on the fact that tobacco was actually the most subsidized activity in agricultural sector in Australia. This sector received six times the subsidies rate of other activities in agricultural sector. This rate was then considered not representing healthy state so it had to be cut down. Finally, in 1994, the Australian government published review regarding the tobacco industry and found out that this industry had actually created uncompetitive and inefficient industry.

Today’s Tobacco Plant in Australia

With the fact that tobacco industry is not as big as it was before, there are almost no local tobacco leaves available in big number used by the local manufacturers. Since it's much cheaper to purchase imported leaves, all manufacturers now use the imported leaves for production. But has the locally grown leaf really vanished from the surface? Well, according to some survey, some people actually still grow and harvest tobacco leaves and seeds under the radar. This means, they do it without the government being aware of it. So, it's considered an illegal practice indeed.

Despite being forbid by government to grow tobacco without license, this illegal practice is still quite common because there are some locals who still do this practice based on certain reasons. For instance, they believe locally grown leaves are better in quality. They also think that smoking their locally grown tobacco leaves is cheaper than purchasing a pack of commercial cigarettes. So, it's closely related to financial reason. But what happens to those growing the tobacco plants illegally? Well, the government of Australia has regulated this practice on its law including what punishment or consequences that the locals in Australian have to face when being caught doing this illegal practice.

Ection 28 on Tobacco Leaf Production

The Ection 28 regulates the licensed producers to manage the production of tobacco leaf. According to the 28 (1), a person who doesn’t have the producer license granted by government shouldn't intentionally produce any material related to tobacco including tobacco leaf, tobacco plant and tobacco seed. The producer mustn't being reckless about the material in case the material is illegally produced by non-licensed producer in Australia. If the person is caught doing the forbidden practice regulated in this Ection, he/she will be receiving some penalties as regulated under the same ection.

The penalties include:

1. 2 years and more of imprisonment for producing tobacco leaf illegally or

2. 500 penalty units

3. 2 years of imprisonment or 500 units of penalties for producing tobacco plants and tobacco seeds

4. If only the non-licensed manufacturer has turned the leaves, seeds or plants into excisable goods, the person has to responsible of 5 times amount of duty.

This regulation shows that Australian government does give enough focus and attention to monitor and control the tobacco related industry and plantation in Australia land. However, the penalties and consequences that Australian government has regulated are actually not as bad as penalties in other countries. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons some locals still plant the tobacco plants and harvest the leaves and seeds for personal need.

Ection 28 Number 3

Let’s move on to the next details on Ection 28 for tobacco regulation. This time, what being applied is the strict liability to subsection. Actually, there have been some misunderstandings regarding certain English phrase. The home consumption phrase that Australians know actually means “in Australia” instead of “in the home”. This ection regulates that there are 500 penalty units or 2 years of imprisonment for those illegally producing tobacco plants or tobacco seeds. As for the illegal practice of tobacco leaf production, there is 2 years or greater of imprisonment.

How Much Penalty Should You Pay for Illegal Tobacco Production

Let’s talk about the amount of penalty for illegal practice that one should pay for illegally growing tobacco plants. According to the regulation set by Australian government, the person has to pay 500 penalty units for illegally growing one tobacco plant. How much is one penalty unit set by the government? It's $170. So, the 500 penalty units times $170 and the result is equal to $85.000. Yes, this is a huge amount of penalty for illegal practice. With this amount of money, you can even buy small house in the suburban. So, it clearly shows how serious the Australian government is when it comes to illegal tobacco plant and production.

How To Legally Grow Tobacco in Australia

Now that you're aware of how much find and how long of imprisonment that you should face for illegal tobacco plant growing and production, you must think twice of doing this illegal practice. However, if you're seriously committed to grow tobacco plant for commercial use, you can consider obtaining license from the government for legal tobacco plant growing and production. As explained in the regulation set by government, one should apply for license to government before planting tobacco plants. What everyone should know is obtaining the license is not easy because the government seriously takes care of the tobacco matter.

Despite difficult process to obtain the license, the license is always wide open for those fulfilling the qualifications for being a tobacco producer in Australia. Once the license is obtained, the license holder can start growing and producing tobacco leaves, seeds and plants and selling the products. Meanwhile, the method to plant and grow tobacco is basically the same as method applied in other areas with the same soil and weather characteristic. The type of tobacco plant growing in Australia can be different with those in Asia regions with warmer climate. As a result, the quality and characteristic of the leaves and seeds is different as well. Therefore, it's important to learn everything about tobacco before starting to produce and plant.

If the license holder only wants to plant tobacco for personal use, he can certainly do it. Just like how people grow cannabis plant to fulfill their personal need, other people can do the same thing with their tobacco plants. Just like other plants, the tobacco plants do require certain care and treatment to make sure they grow well and optimally produce seeds and leaves. It may take at least two years for the plants before they can produce optimally.