Tanzania Yet to Submit Tobacco Report to WHO

Source from:  PP Media (tz)  09/13/2012

Tobacco production in Tanzania will have a troubled future unless the government takes urgent measures to rein in global initiatives by anti-tobacco lobbies geared at phasing out the crop. Industry watchers say this critical point has been reached because Tanzania has failed to submit to the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) its 'country position' on the crop to be incorporated in the UN agency's working document to guide its members in future action on the crop at their conference of parties scheduled for Republic of Korea in mid-November this year. The deadline for submission of the same was June 25 but, owing to numerous appeals the WHO secretariat has offered extension for late submissions to September 14. The Korea summit meeting is commonly referred to as COP 5 and is expected to be attended by delegates from more than 110 members worldwide. It will, among other things, deliberate on and adopt various country positions in relation to the hugely disputed articles 17&18 which advocate alternative means of ensuring rural livelihoods and hence unnecessarily hurting the agricultural communities that rely on the crop. Sources have hinted that even as the grace period comes to an end, there are few indications of the country's position being submitted as promptly as would be safe for Tanzania. Reports from the Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives ministry, which was to jointly put in place the document with the Health and Social Welfare ministry, say the major stumbling block is that there are anti-tobacco elements at the latter ministry with close links to the international anti-tobacco lobby. This is cited as the major reason for dillydallying "that has allowed matters to drag on and on, making the country miss out on the previous submission deadline", according to one source. A lecturer at the Morogoro-based Sokoine University of Agriculture who preferred anonymity hinted on the possibility of conflicts of interest being at the heart of the problem. The don said anti-tobacco lobbies such as the Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum were there partly to help the government with "impartial advice of tobacco growing and use in the interest of the national economy," but it was not clear whether all played that role to satisfaction. Critics say a few members of some of the lobbies often concern themselves more with invitations to international conferences than with efforts to expending judicious advice to the government. Tobacco-growing neighbouring countries that have already submitted their positions at the WHO's Geneva-based secretariat include Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia. In all these countries, the agriculture and health ministries are in agreement that tobacco growing plays a crucial though also controversial role in the livelihoods of many farmers and other stakeholders as well as in their national economies. The ministries therefore concur that it would be suicidal to ban the crop and, instead, what more time is needed to assess the impact of tobacco farming and gradually engage in the cultivation of alternative crops. According to the Bank of Tanzania, tobacco's contribution to the national economy is enormous: the crop is the leading earner of foreign exchange among all traditional cash crops, raking in over US$200 million a year. The crop is also the major source of income for at least 17 district councils in the country and employs hundreds of thousands of people directly and indirectly. Chunya Member of Parliament Victor Mwambalaswa said tobacco was "the only reliable source of income" in the district, adding that it supports the employment of around 20,000 people "so no one would welcome any efforts to sabotage it". "All those responsible for submitting Tanzania's position should be held accountable for the delay, as they are unfair to our country generally and the Chunya District Council in particular," noted the MP. "This is because the council earns in excess of 1bn/- from tobacco a year, money spent on development projects, including building or improving roads, schools and health facilities for our people," he added. The Guardian is continuing with efforts to reach Health and Social Welfare ministry officials for comment. Enditem