Phillipines: Tobacco Growers Oppose Proposed Production Limits

Source from:  Business World  09/26/2012

THE ASIAN CHAPTER of an international group of tobacco growers has expressed opposition to a set of guidelines proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) seeking to lessen tobacco production worldwide. In a press conference yesterday at the Century Park Hotel in Manila during the Asia Tobacco Forum, the International Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA) said that a series of recommendations from the WHO-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) present "a real threat" for tobacco producing communities in various countries party to the convention. "The World Health Organization has only previously proposed a lot of regulation on consumption. However, these new recommendations, which focus on reducing tobacco production, will affect very drastically the way we produce tobacco," said Antonio Abrunhosa, ITGA chief executive officer. "We are the people that will be most affected by these measures," the official added. The recommendations referred to by the group are guidelines developed by the WHO for presentation at the upcoming WHO-FCTC Conference of the Parties to be held this Nov. 12-17 in Seoul, South Korea. The WHO FCTC was adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly in 2003. It was entered into force in February 2005 and has been adopted by 175 member countries, including the Philippines. The objective of the FCTC is the reduction of tobacco smoking. Part of its guiding principles, however, is the importance of helping tobacco growers who would be affected by any reduction in demand for tobacco products. The guidelines, developed by a FCTC working group in preparation for the Seoul conference, however, propose measures that seek to discontinue government policies and prevent other programs and systems that support tobacco farming. "There is a measure saying that financial or technical support for tobacco farming must be stopped, and also telling governments to mandate the seasons when tobacco can or cannot be grown. The guidelines also proposed limiting and then reducing the land area where tobacco can be produced, and also says that countries should reduce tobacco production simultaneously. We find all these absurd," said Mr. Abrunhosa. "Before proposing radical guidelines like these, there should be research. They should study the viability of their proposals first, see if there really are any alternative crops to tobacco that can generate the same livelihood, and then take measures against tobacco," he added, noting that WHO-commissioned studies on possible alternatives to tobacco have yet to find a crop able to generate the same level of income and employment as the product. Asuncion M. Lopez, vice-president of the Philippine Tobacco Growers Association, Inc. (PTGA), likewise said that the group strongly opposes the FCTC"s proposal to reduce and, ultimately, eliminate tobacco farming worldwide. "If the World Health Organization convention succeeds in regulating tobacco production through these guidelines, our livelihood will be severely affected," said Ms. Lopez in the briefing. "No alternative crop can be as viable as tobacco. It is a cash crop," she stressed. Ms. Lopez also maintained that the measures proposed by the FCTC opposes the very mandate of the convention and will imperil the futures of the many families dependent on tobacco farming. "For example, that measure that seeks to limit and reduce land area for tobacco production, that"s absurd in a country like the Philippines where we till very small parcels of land. At an average, we only have one and a half hectares of land to till per farmer," she said. Ms. Lopez expressed hope that President Benigno S. C. Aquino III will oppose the new FCTC guidelines. "Commercial tobacco farming in our country was first a government initiative. We hope our President and other Asian leaders will be guided by wisdom and not endanger livelihood of 10 million tobacco farmers in Asia by ratifying these proposals from the FCTC," said the official. The PTGA earlier joined the International Tobacco Growers Association in launching a global petition campaign, available online and through growers associations. The petition calls on government leaders including the Philippines to "reject these irrational and destructive proposals in favour of a more realistic approach that will help tobacco farmers adapt as the demand for tobacco evolves." Enditem