JT Seeks to Stabilize Domestic Tobacco Crop

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 08/03/2011

Japan's Leaf Tobacco Deliberative Council is supporting Japan Tobacco Inc's efforts to reduce and stabilize domestic leaf tobacco production following recent declines in cigarette consumption. JT says that it wants to consult with individual growers, in co-operation with growers' unions, to discover how many might be willing to volunteer to cease production. It will then use the results of its survey when it submits to the council its proposal on cultivation areas and prices for the 2012 season. Such submissions are usually made in the autumn. JT said in a press note that cigarette sales in Japan had fallen by nearly 20 per cent following the 'unprecedented excise tax increase in October 2010'. And this fall had taken place against a background of a gradual decline in recent years brought about by the ageing of Japanese society, the growing awareness of the health risks associated with smoking, and the tightening of smoking-related regulations. In the light of these circumstances, JT said that it wanted to identify those growers who wanted to quit cultivating tobacco while fostering grower leaders who could work towards a stable supply-demand balance in the future. JT is obliged to negotiate contracts with domestic leaf tobacco growers under the Tobacco Business Law so as to determine on an annual basis the total area to be used for tobacco cultivation and leaf tobacco prices based on types and qualities. JT is required also to buy the entire usable domestic tobacco crop. Enditem