Bangladesh Looks to Restrict But Not Ban Leaf Production

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 04/02/2011

The government of Bangladesh will impose restrictions on tobacco cultivation to minimise its negative impact on the environment and public health, according to a story in The Daily Star quoting a ruling party member of parliament. But Shawkat Momen Shahjahan, president of the parliamentary body on agriculture, said tobacco cultivation would not be banned because tobacco earned foreign currency. Shahjahan was speaking on Wednesday as the chief guest at the fourth technical session of a two-day international workshop on the "Impact of tobacco cultivation, and policy advocacy for shifting to food and other agricultural crops". He said the government would take steps to ensure that tobacco cultivation did not affect the environment, public health and food production. But the Shujan president, Professor Muzaffer Ahmad, urged the government to ban tobacco cultivation completely to ensure food security and to protect the environment. The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Mizanur Rahman, meanwhile, said the cultivation and marketing of tobacco were violations of human rights. And the Bangladesh Bank economic adviser, Akhtar Uz Zaman, said the government had to spend US$2-3 billion on food imports after natural calamities, an amount that could be reduced if food crops were cultivated where tobacco was farmed at present. Enditem