In 2017, Marouan, 32, realized his dream. With the food truck he has just acquired, he intends to launch his business in Tunisia. But everything does not go as planned: the latter comes up against difficulties and administrative inconsistencies which ruin his life. Today, five years later, he still does not exercise: “I have this project sleeping at home and I am forced to work at Teleperformance [entreprise de centres d’appels] so as not to remain unemployed”, laments the latter.
From the food truck to the trolley, passing by the simple seller of the famous snack ayari, they are much like Marouan trying to make a living from street food. Although this practice is widespread in Tunisia, the activity is not recognized, subjecting sellers to the goodwill of the police.
police zeal
Samir is a snack seller ayari and boiled eggs, “I have been working in the same neighborhood for twenty-one years”, says the latter. Recently, he was arrested three times by law enforcement, “I explained to them that I had been there for a long time, they didn’t want to hear it”.
They seized his equipment and fined him 60 dinars because he was working illegally. : “I know plenty of colleagues who have asked for permission, [mais] they don’t give any, they’ve never given any,” he says. The seller is then each time forced to buy back his equipment“it costs me between 150 and 200 dinars [entre 46 et 61 euros]. […] I earn between 20 and 30 dinars [entre 6 et 9 euros] a day, and that is to feed my children.”
“The police do what they want, either they arrest you every time, or they leave you alone. It depends on their mood.” For his part, Marouan faces administrative absurdities. The town hall of his sector forces him to file a request, and when he does, the latter’s response is not clear: “She didn’t refuse, she left the subject a little open, and she explained to me that she had no law to refer to and that she couldn’t do anything for me”, says the latter. For its part, the Ministry of the Interior completely forbids him to exercise. The young man still tried to work, “I didn’t even last an hour because the police came to arrest me”.
Even as street food vendors are clamped down, demand isn’t falling. “Anyway, the snack ayari, the Tunisian citizen is bound to eat it, whether at my house or at someone else’s,” Samir is indignant. “In the morning, you can’t eat a 9-dinar snack [2,7 euros], it’s too expensive. People think it’s better to go get a snack ayari at 1.50 dinar [0,46 euro] and a boiled egg”, he continues.
The need for economic reality
In Tunisia, there is no law recognizing street food“we are facing a legal void”, deplores Hayfa Soudani, business lawyer. “It’s something relatively new in Tunisia. Legally, when there is no special law concerning a specific area, then the general law applies; in this specific case, the Commercial Code, the consumer protection law and the specifications of the town halls”, lists the latter.
For her part, Hedia Amor, deputy director of the hygiene service at the town hall of Ariana, explains that there are no specifications regulating the sanitary conditions of street food.. “The town hall of Ariana does not give authorization in this area since it does not exist legally”, she adds.
Legally, only the status of itinerant merchant is recognized, but he must only buy products and resell them “as is”, according to the decree of the Minister of the Interior and Local Development and the Minister of Trade and Crafts of December 9, 2010, regulating the exercise of the itinerant trader.
According to Hayfa Soudani, it would be necessary “a framework law” which would be “between itinerant trade and catering”. According to the expert, it is becoming urgent “since there are more and more people who want to invest in this field, it has become trendy, it is less expensive and it is profitable”. “A law must be born from the ground”adds the lawyer.
Hedia Amor agrees, “we need to evolve and our laws reflect what is really happening, what is happening now”. The latter indicates that if tomorrow the town hall of Ariana decides to grant authorizations to people who wish to invest in street food, the health management will have no choice but to follow this movement, “we will do our best to do our job behind, and, therefore, we will come to check”, assures the official.
But she believes that her action is limited, and that the fact that the food truck or cart is moving may make tracking difficult. “If we ever allow them, I prefer that we impose a fixed place on them so that we can control them, otherwise we won’t be able to do it properly”, she confides. According to her, the service will not know where the seller is, and this could complicate the control.
Bureaucratic absurdity and administrative vagueness
A limit that Marouan finds ridiculous, “the concept of the food truck is that it moves, otherwise it’s not a food truck”, ironically the young man. The latter denounces an illogical administrative machine and daily back and forth between the different institutions: he wants to obtain his authorization, they, distraught in the face of the situation, do not know what to do.
“At one point, the town hall granted me a place, but they asked me to pay for water and electricity even though my food truck is self-sufficient.” The young man does it anyway, hoping to be able to start working. “The police came and banned me from exercising. I told them that the town hall had authorized me to do so, so they asked me for written proof. When I returned to the town hall and asked for this written proof, it was refused to me, says the latter. Everyone tells you what they want, these are just words, nothing is written.
Recently, the health official explained to him that he needed to install a toilet in his food truck: “I hallucinated, they make any step impossible, he laments. How could civil servants who have been in office for fifty years understand this concept? There is a lag, young people are ahead of their government.”
However, some sellers are just waiting to be legalized. This is the case of Ahmed, owner of a food cart for eight years, who works at night, “If tomorrow, they issue an authorization specific to us, I will ask for it. It’s still better to be legal, to be allowed to be there, in that case the law will protect me if I have problems”. insists the latter.
The reign of miscellaneous abuses
With no legal framework to protect them and not being legally recognized, street food vendors are therefore subject to the whims of law enforcement. According to the testimonies collected, some say they feel obliged not to claim their due when an agent comes for a sandwich.
Ahmed, for example, says he is not bothered by the police: “They bothered me once, at the very beginning, when I was settling in.” The seller then made arrangements with them: “They let me stay there on the condition that no one complains about me, none of the neighbors are unhappy with me, and that I clean up the place after I’m there.”
Since he says he no longer has any problems with the police, he also explains that they rely on him to make the neighborhood safer“I animate it at night and secure it with my presence”.
Two options are then imposed on sellers: engulf themselves in an administrative machine which does not recognize them and which, therefore, will never authorize them to exercise; or “s’arranger” with local authorities. In which case, they will not be able to exercise quietly. “If I wanted to buy the cops, I would have done it from the start, I want something legal and authorized to be quiet”, Marouan is indignant.
According to testimonies, some town halls have specifications specific to food trucks, but they “do not want to communicate it for fear that everyone will invest in this area”.
The absence of a framework law at the national level authorizes this kind of abuse and vagueness. In addition, still according to testimonies, these specifications would require food trucks to install three toilets and hot water. : “That does not make any sense”, denounces one of them.
Sellers therefore find themselves caught between an administrative machine that grinds them down and police forces that intimidate them, some only wishing to realize a dream and for others to make their livelihood prosper.. “I admit that I’m starting to get tired, if it doesn’t work, I think I’ll sell and leave the country”, laments Marouan.