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The Independent Fair Trade Tobacco Association (Fita) dropped part of its urgent request scheduled for yesterday after the government admitted to providing a record of the reasoning of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) to uphold the ban on tobacco products in Level 4.
The association said its court request was divided into two parts and that it was happy with the concessions, but would now proceed with Part B of the request that would address, among other issues, the decision to ban the sale of cigarettes.
Fita President Sinenhlanhla Mnguni said he received correspondence from the state attorney’s office last Thursday confirming what he had argued all along: that current regulations allowed all forms of manufacturing and allowed its members to export.
“Our member factories are operating again under the conditions stipulated by the regulations,” he said yesterday.
Mnguni said that its members could now produce and export cigarettes and tobacco products, but that the money for the fiscus was far below what would have been done if local sales were allowed.
He said they had also requested minutes and records of the NCCC’s decision to enact the current regulation. 27
In a letter to Fita, the director general of the Presidency and the cabinet secretary, Cassius Lubisi, indicated that the minutes would not be released, saying they were classified.
However, Mnguni said the government had requested two weeks to provide the agreed documentation and that this would result in an unnecessary delay in hearing the Part B request.
“The enactment of regulation 27 of the current regulations must be crossed out and that the Disaster Management Law does not empower the minister of cooperative government and traditional affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to enact said regulation and she is acting ultra vires ( beyond his powers), ”he said.
He said the tobacco industry, like many other industries, could not bear the losses during the shutdown much longer.
“The biggest difficulty in this regard is that illicit cigarette trafficking is thriving and the criminal unions behind these goods will be able to grow their networks and resources, making it difficult for the legitimate industry to compete on an equal footing once it is banned. lift the sale of cigarettes, “he said.
Johann van Loggerenberg, a former chief compliance officer for the South African Tax Service (Sars), shared Fita’s sentiments and said that transnational crime syndicates have started attacking South Africa and, in some cases, have connected with local unions.
“Unions and traditional drug gangs have added cigarettes to their products,” he said. – [email protected]
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