Tunisian authorities have launched a large-scale crackdown on informal trade, dismantling numerous illegal retail outlets as part of an effort to secure urban areas and regulate commercial activities.
According to reports from Tunisienumerique, the Ministry of the Interior led a campaign that resulted in the closure of 179 illegal retail outlets over the past week. The operations focused on densely populated urban areas across the country.
In addition to the closures, municipal police units conducted 54 seizure operations, confiscating perishable goods, contraband, and products that failed to comply with health standards. These actions led to the issuance of 16 criminal reports and over 220 fines for various economic and health violations.
Authorities have stated that the primary goals of these measures are to restore order in public spaces and protect consumers from unregulated products. The government notes that while informal trade often fulfills economic needs, it disrupts formal channels, leads to tax evasion, and weakens the legal economic fabric of the country.
This campaign unfolds against a backdrop of increasing social tension fueled by inflation, declining purchasing power, and a struggling formal sector. While the government has vowed to continue these field operations, it has not yet outlined a clear strategy for integrating or retraining the thousands of small, informal vendors who are being impacted by the crackdown.
MK/Sf/ac/fss/abj/APA