Industry friction denied

The CEO of the Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ), James Kasongo, has told journalists at a media briefing that the Board ‘has not put any restrictions on the amount of tobacco companies in Zambia or abroad must buy during the 2019 marketing season,’ according to a Zambia National Broadcasting Corp story.

Kasongo was said also to have ‘dismissed speculations’ that the Tobacco Association of Zambia, Japan Tobacco International and Alliance One had sued the government and the TBZ over ‘the tobacco levy’.

Last week, a story in The Mast reported that Japan Tobacco International Leaf Zambia and Alliance One Zambia had filed a notice in the Lusaka High Court principal registry seeking leave to start judicial review proceedings over a two percent levy placed on tobacco sales that was allegedly retroactive and illegal.

The sales in question were said to have been completed before the effective date of the statutory instrument imposing the levy.

In the Mast’s story, the two firms were said to have been challenging also a decision to issue two statutory instruments which restricted their operations on the tobacco sales floors. That decision they allege went beyond the powers granted under the Tobacco Act.