China: STMA Issues Urgent Notice on Leaf Tobacco Production Control

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 03/31/2014

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) - the regulator of China's tobacco industry - issued on March 24 an urgent notice requiring strict control over the acreage of tobacco and observation of the red line on State purchase of leaf tobacco, to ensure steady development of leaf tobacco production.

The notice was issued in response to general overheating in leaf tobacco production nationwide since the beginning of 2014, and the harsh situation of overproduction and excessive purchase of leaf tobacco.

The notice requires the tobacco monopoly administrative authorities at all levels to always give top priority to the work of controlling the total quantity of leaf tobacco, and adhere to the red line of limiting the quantity of annual State leaf tobacco purchase to 47 million dan (2.35 million tons). For the tobacco monopoly administrative authorities at all levels, they shall actively report the current situation of leaf tobacco production to the local governments concerned, strive to win their understanding and support, earnestly well do ideological work on local tobacco growers, guide tobacco growers to shift their enthusiasm for tobacco production onto improvement of the quality of leaf tobacco, realize sustainable development of leaf tobacco production, and manage to well maintain the interests of both the State and tobacco growers, the notice says.

The notice points out that the tobacco monopoly administrative authorities at all levels shall practically adopt effective measures to ensure that the total tobacco acreage will not exceed the level of 18.8 million mu (1.253 million hectares); shall take structural optimization as the central link in tobacco work, rationally set targets for structural optimization strictly in accordance with the demand of manufacturing enterprises and earnestly formulate work schemes and specific measures to this effect; shall make process control strict, and scientifically determine the acreage of tobacco and remarkably well control the tobacco acreage in accordance with the annual leaf tobacco purchase quotas issued by the State, the structural optimization quantity and the actual unit output level, with the guiding acreage target set by the STMA as the ceiling; shall strengthen contract management, and, with the contract system as the leading line, comprehensively promote leaf tobacco growing and purchase electronic contract management; and shall strictly implement policies on subsidies by strictly controlling both the standards and funding for input in leaf tobacco production within the limit of indexes issued by the STMA, without any excess, according to the notice. Enditem