Fawu and tobacco manufacturers meet over Sars regulations
The Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) is locked in a closed-door meeting with some local tobacco manufacturers on Wednesday as industry heavyweights gear up for a legal battle with Sars over regulations.
The Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita), which represents the majority of local manufacturers, wants regulations that give the South African Revenue Service (Sars) power to install CCTV cameras at factories to be declared unlawful and unconstitutional by the courts.
The union’s meeting with Fita is believed to be an attempt to find common ground between the tax authority and the local tobacco manufacturers.
The regulations, gazetted in July, compel any warehouse where tobacco products are manufactured and stored to be placed under constant surveillance by Sars.
The tax authority’s end goal is to clamp down on the illicit trade by ensuring that every cigarette on the market is accounted for and that manufacturers pay their portion of taxes.
Fita wants the Pretoria High Court to overturn the hawkish regulations.
Local manufacturers, including Adriano Mazzaotti’s Carnilinx, believe this kind of big brother surveillance is a violation of the right to privacy and property, as well as being irrational and arbitrary.
Failure to comply with the regulations could see the manufacturer fined or their licence suspended, threatening thousands of jobs in the sector.
Meanwhile, Fawu, which represents workers in the tobacco industry, is expected to hear Fita’s side of the story.
It’s understood Fawu leadership is in favour of the regulations and is tipped to lobby Fita to drop the court challenge in a bid to save jobs in the long haul.
-EWN
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