The National Union of Private Pharmacists “SNAPO” has announced the start of a national strike, protesting against the tax measures slipped into the new finance law LF2023.
Indeed, according to the statements of the president of the National Union of Private Pharmacists, Messaoud Belambri, during a press conference held yesterday, Tuesday, January 3, 2023 at the Union’s headquarters in Saïd Hamdine in the capital, the strike will be preceded by a sit-in next Sunday, January 15 in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance.
Belambri mentioned the union sent a detailed report to the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Pharmaceutical Industry, the Minister of Finance, as well as the President of the National Economic, Social Council and Environmental, to inform them of the situation and the Union’s position on the new tax imposed on them.
“We are asking for an arbitral intervention from the Minister of Finance to get out of the crisis and withdraw the instruction related to the introduction of an unreasonable new tax that no pharmacist can afford,” Belambri said.
The Syndicate has kept the doors of dialogue open, calling for an end to this “serious problem which threatens the future of every pharmacist in Algeria”.
The union believes, as stated by its president, that the introduction of new taxes is detrimental to the promotion of local industry, as it considers it contrary to all efforts and reforms related to investment and production national.
New 35% tax surprises pharmacy owners
An owner of a small pharmacy in Algiers, explained to our editorial staff that, to their great surprise, at the start of 2023, pharmacists who had previously benefited from a 20% increase on locally manufactured products and this in order to promote the local production of drugs, are deprived of this, a new tax of 35% is imposed on them with a retroactive effect of 4 years. And in case of non-payment the pharmacist will be paid a penalty of 25%, this causes small and medium pharmacies to losses that can lead to bankruptcy.
