Zimbabwe: Job Cuts Loom in Tobacco Sector

Source from:  The Herald 05/31/2010

Harare - Millions of people in the tobacco industry worldwide are going to lose their jobs following recommendations to ban ingredients used in the manufacturing of tobacco products, the International Tobacco Growers Association has said. The World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control draft guidelines, Articles 9 and 10, recommend the ban. If implemented, these would eliminate traditional blended cigarettes, which account for approximately half of the global market. ITGA chief executive, Mr Antonio Abrunhosa said this would also affect tobacco growers. "These recommendations have been made by bureaucrats, mostly from wealthy countries who know nothing about tobacco growing. Their recommendations could wipe out the livelihoods of millions of tobacco growers all over the world," he said in a statement this week. Mr Abrunhosa felt there was need to include tobacco growers in such discussions. "Tobacco growers, the very people most affected by the guidelines, are officially excluded from any discussions. "Even Ministries of Agriculture or Economy seem unaware of the discussions taking place within the FCTC. "There does not seem to be any balanced form of representation whatsoever." Numerous countries, including Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania, face the prospect of seeing millions of job losses and a huge decline in tobacco exports. Tobacco cultivation is critical for many economies and is one of the few sectors that remained buoyant throughout the global financial crisis. ITGA represents over 30 million tobacco growers from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Enditem