Leaf Settlement will Aid Farmers

Source from:  04/26/2004 04/27/2004

A $33 million lawsuit settlement reached Thursday between R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and tobacco growers will help farmers after the quota losses they've experienced, said Sammy Tant, a Nash County farmer. "The $33 million settlement is a win, but it's not enough," he said. "It will be tacked on to the $200 million we'll get in June from the first settlement with tobacco companies, including Philip Morris and others." Farmers filed the lawsuit to try to get some compensation for their losses, Tant said. "We entered this lawsuit, and a lot of farmers were saying that we were biting the hand that was feeding us," he said. "Since the lawsuit was introduced, the tobacco quota has been cut by more than 50 percent. We knew that we had to do something to save ourselves." [img border=0 hspace="4" vspace="4" align="left" src=http://www.tobaccochina.com/english/picture/yanye3.jpg] Tant said tobacco quota owners and farmers who did not participate in the first settlement are eligible to receive settlement money for the years 1996 through 2000 covered in the lawsuit. Quota owners and farmers will be notified by mail, he said. "This is one win that we've got," he said. "It is going to help some. But the big fish is still out there, and the big fish is the tobacco buyout that we need to allow farmers to change the way we're doing business, to get competitive in the world market and improve our situation. "I'm thrilled that R.J. Reynolds went on and settled the lawsuit. We won this battle. Now, we can go on to some new battles." Tant said he was the original lead plaintiff on the tobacco lawsuit. "I believe what we did was the right thing to do because of the losses we were having put on us," he said. "By winning this lawsuit, I feel that we were right in going after it and the success we've had." Under the terms of the settlement, RJR, the nation's second-largest tobacco company, agrees to pay $33 million in cash to farmers and buy at least 35 million pounds of domestic leaf in each of the next 10 years. U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen gave preliminary approval to the deal, but 175,000 farmers who joined the class-action suit filed in 2000 still must ratify it. Ballots will be mailed May 10, and farmers will have 45 days to vote. Enditem