Tag: lebanon

  • Conflict Forcing Growers From Fields

    Conflict Forcing Growers From Fields

    Photo: Hussein

    The escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is forcing tobacco farmers in Lebanon to abandon their fields, reports Xinhua.

    Hezbollah launched hundreds of missiles into Israel in retaliation for the killing of its commander, Fouad Shokor, in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut last month.

    In response, Israel reported conducting numerous preemptive airstrikes targeting Hezbollah’s rocket launchers in southern Lebanon.

    Amidst the turmoil, tobacco farmers in border villages were forced to abandon picking and drying their leaves.

    “This is the first time in more than 40 years that I have abandoned tobacco cultivation in my fields,” Jamal Abdallah, a 60-year-old displaced farmer, told Xinhua. Abdallah said around 85 percent of tobacco farmers in southern Lebanon have left their fields due to the ongoing conflict.

    According to the Lebanese Regie for Tobacco (RLTT), between 15,000-16,000 families cultivate tobacco in southern Lebanon, covering an area of some 90 square km.

    While the annual production usually exceeds 5 million kg, RLTT said initial estimates show this year’s production will dip to 2 million.

  • Lebanon Picks Anti-Counterfeit Technology

    Lebanon Picks Anti-Counterfeit Technology

    David Thomas, sales director at OpSec Security, presenting a commemorative plaque to Regie Libanaise Chairman Eng. Nassif Sobhi Seklaoui.

    OpSec Security and Scopsis are partnering with the Lebanese tobacco monopoly, Régie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs, to combat the trade in illicit tobacco.

    As part of the deal, OpSec will provide authentication stamps to Régie Libanaise, enabling the protection of the company’s products, beginning with the market-leading Cedars brand of cigarettes. OpSec’s proprietary Insight software platform will be utilized to provide the authentication and traceability of each licit stamped pack throughout the supply chain.

    OpSec’s solution will provide advanced mobile authentication of stamp security features and product traceability for Régie Libanaise enforcement staff as well as customs and border officials. Retailers and consumers within Lebanon will also be empowered to authenticate packs and gain visibility of product provenance using the Insight customer engagement functionality, freely available on any mobile device.

    OpSec will further utilize its web monitoring technology to ensure any attempt by illicit traders to sell counterfeit stamps via online marketplaces, websites or social media will be captured, removed and reported to enforcement officials.

    “As well combatting illicit trade and protecting much needed revenues for the Lebanese Republic, the first phase implementation is a proactive step towards adopting the provisions of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” said Mohamad Ali Ahmad, project manager at Beirut-based Scopsis, in a statement. “The project will be amongst the first of its kind in the region and represents a beacon of hope for Lebanon and a demonstration of its commitment to its roadmap for reforms.” 

    Illicit trade is estimated to account for around 25 percent of the Lebanese tobacco market, causing the government to miss between $200 million and $250 million in revenues annually.

  • Lebanon suffers leaf losses

    Lebanon suffers leaf losses

    Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has ordered a government survey of recent major losses suffered by tobacco growers in Rmaish, in the south of the country, according to a story in The Daily Star.
    The story described the current season as virus-ridden and said that it was threatening growers’ primary source of income.
    The Lebanese Higher Relief Committee, which distributes funds during emergencies, is due to conduct a study following ‘damage to tobacco seedlings by viruses caused by climate change, and material losses to farmers,’ according to a statement released by Hariri’s press office.
    The statement did not provide details of the extent of the losses incurred.
    Tobacco is a main source of income for thousands of families in south Lebanon, where the soil type makes it difficult to plant other types of crops. [Wikipedia quotes one source as saying that the word Rmaish – also rendered as Rmeish and Rmiesh – translates into English as ‘scanty herbage’.]
    The state-run National News Agency reported that the survey was projected to start during the middle of next week.

  • Cooperating on tobacco

    Cooperating on tobacco

    Tobacco products might form one element of a proposal under which Lebanon and Iran would co-operate in joint industrial projects, according to a story in The Daily Star, Beirut.

    During a meeting on Friday with Mohammadian Shumaki, head of a delegation from the Iranian Tobacco Company, Lebanon’s Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan talked of the need to create such joint projects.

    “We agreed with the Iranian delegation on the need to create joint industrial projects, especially when it comes to tobacco production in the two countries,” Hajj Hasan said.

    The possibility of producing Lebanese cigarettes in Iran while manufacturing Iranian tobacco in Lebanon had been discussed, he said.

    “It is necessary to follow up on this issue with Regie,” he added, referring to Lebanon’s state-owned tobacco company.

    For his part, Shumaki said that his visit had been aimed at discussing the outcome of Hajj Hasan’s negotiations with Iranian officials that took place during his visit to Iran last year.

    “We are also exploring the best ways to strengthen our relations and co-operation in economic and industrial areas, which will weigh positively on growth,” he said.