In South Africa, cigarette companies oppose COVID-19 measures

In South Africa, the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA) said it has filed a legal appeal to lift the ban on the sale of cigarettes, an exceptional provision in force in the country in the context of confinement[1]For several days, the tobacco industry has joined forces with other sectors, such as alcohol producers, to plead with the presidency for a relaxation of the rules, which those concerned consider inappropriate and irrational.[2]. In its argument, FITA goes so far as to say that " The current situation cannot be tolerated any longer by the various stakeholders in the tobacco industry without leading to serious consequences for them, such as farm workers, factory workers, traders, as well as the many ordinary South Africans […] whose livelihoods are currently at stake "The company is therefore requesting the pure and simple withdrawal of the measure, allowing at the same time, according to it, to give a boost" much needed " to the economy in South Africa, especially since the current ban would fuel illegal smuggling networks, causing a loss of tax revenue for the state coffers. This event is in short a concentrate of the practices of the tobacco industry, described by Anna Gilmore, aimed at interfering and influencing political decision-making[3]. Here, the FITA company uses all means to reverse a political decision taken by a legitimate body. Anna Gilmore shows in this respect that the tobacco industry does not hesitate to multiply litigation against public authorities, even when these are lost in advance, in order to provoke a " regulatory cooling » to public decision-makers. The tobacco companies also use a rigorously false argument to support their positions, claiming for example that the tobacco industry represents a financial windfall for the public authorities. Finally, the tobacco industry seeks to discredit the merits of public policies that oppose their interests: regulating the activity of cigarette companies would lead to colossal economic losses, borne by “deserving” actors (farm workers, small traders, etc.), while the profits would inevitably be absorbed by “undeserving” groups, in this case tobacco traffickers. However, studies carried out in the wake of these constant assertions have never confirmed these allegations.©Tobacco Free Generation

---

[1] All Africa, “South Africa: Lockdown - Tobacco Association to Challenge Cigarette Ban in Court”, April 18, 2020https://allafrica.com/stories/202004190019.html[2] Times, “Tobacco and alcohol associations demand responses over lockdown bans”, April 20, 2020https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-04-20-tobacco-and-alcohol-associations-demand-answers-over-lockdown-bans/[3] Anna B. Gilmore, “The Policy Dystopia Model: An Interpretive Analysis of Tobacco Industry Political Activity,” September 20, 2016https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002125©National Committee Against Smoking |