South Australian Consolidated Acts

TOBACCO PRODUCTS REGULATION ACT 1997 - SECT 69

69—Powers in relation to seized tobacco products

If tobacco products are seized under this Part, the following provisions apply:

            (a)         the Minister may, if satisfied that it is necessary to do so to avoid loss due to the deterioration of the products, determine that the products are forfeited to the Crown and sell the products by public tender;

            (b)         apart from paragraph (a), the products will be forfeited to the Crown if a court convicts a person of an offence against this Act in relation to the products, unless the court determines that the circumstances of the offence were trifling;

            (c)         subject to this section, the owner of the products will be entitled to recover the products or, if the products have been forfeited by determination of the Minister or have deteriorated, will be entitled to be paid compensation by the Crown in respect of the products—

                  (i)         if a prosecution for an offence against this Act in relation to the products has been commenced but—

                        (A)         the defendant is acquitted; or

                        (B)         the prosecution is withdrawn or lapses; or

                        (C)         the court hearing the proceedings determines that the circumstances of the offence were trifling; or

                  (ii)         if—

                        (A)         a prosecution for an offence against this Act in relation to the products has not been commenced within three months of the date of seizure; and

                        (B)         the District Court determines, on application by the owner, that the justice of the case requires that the products be returned or that compensation be paid;

            (d)         at the end of the period of three years from the date of seizure—

                  (i)         if the products have not been forfeited or returned to the owner, they are forfeited to the Crown; and

                  (ii)         in any case, the owner will not have any right to recover the products or be paid compensation in respect of the products (other than a right that has already arisen or been determined under paragraph (c));

            (e)         if the products are forfeited otherwise than under paragraph (a), the Minister may sell the products by public tender;

            (f)         any compensation payable under this section in respect of the products will be in an amount equal to the consideration paid by the owner of the products when he or she purchased them or, where the owner is the manufacturer of the products, their value (determined by reference to the price that would have been obtained from their sale by the owner in the ordinary course of business) as at the date of seizure;

            (g)         the owner of the products has no right to recover the products or be paid compensation in respect of the products apart from under this section.