Indian growers concerned FCTC will take away their livelihood

Tobacco growers inIndia, predominantly those from the main flue-cured production states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, are to intensify their protests against proposals to phase out tobacco growing, according to a story in the most recent issue of the BBM Bommidala Group Newsletter.

The growers are concerned that draft guidelines of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) threaten their livelihood andIndia’s exports.

The FCTC wants to phase out tobacco farming by forcing countries to decrease the area on which the crop is grown and dismantle trade bodies that promote tobacco, such as the Tobacco Board of India.

The growers are concerned by other proposals, too, including one that would ban most cigarette additives used by the tobacco industry.

“If these guidelines are adopted, these could render 30 per cent of our production unusable,” said Udayan Lall, the director of the Tobacco Institute of India.

“Not only will there be a sharp decline in prices, but even export earnings will be seriously impacted.”

The FCTC is due to meet inSeoulduring November.