TELITA SNYCKERS: Countering illicit trade: where’s the strategy, Sars?
If the Moyane era taught us anything, it’s the importance of keeping a close eye on developments at Sars
In August 2020 SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Edward Kieswetter told us (https://mg.co.za/business/2020-08-22-sars-plan-for-illicit-tobacco-still-being-refined/) that Sars’s strategy to deal with illicit cigarettes was still being refined. That doesn’t leave us a whole lot to go on, including where Sars stands on introducing traceability to the tobacco supply chain (after Kieswetter had cancelled a long-overdue tender just after having assumed office). Whatever Kieswetter’s reasons were for putting traceability on hold, they don’t play well to international perceptions, with international body STOP noting (https://exposetobacco.org/wp-content/uploads/TrackandTrace_SouthAfrica.pdf?fbclid=IwAR39ktWbuGJ7_iYf-y0hO2HuJ0SVS4M7DTB6r6LekS6xlHlmF1VR6L5H9dk) how the decision “calls SA’s ability to address illicit trade into question and demonstrates how successful the tobacco industry is in undermining tracking and tracing there”.
Under former commissioner Tom Moyane, investiga...
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