Tobacco growers of the world, unite!

20 Nov, 2016 - 00:11 0 Views
Tobacco growers of the world, unite! Mr Rodney Ambrose

The Sunday Mail

AT a meeting a fortnight ago in India, convened by an arm of the World Health Organisation designated to control the trade and use of tobacco, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Zimbabwe was welcomed as the most recent party to accede to the Convention.

Zimbabwe, the world’s fifth-largest producer of flue-cured tobacco, will actively participate and ensure that its interests are protected in the FCTC. Unlike other Conferences of Parties, COP 7 of the FCTC effectively banned the media and other organisations linked to the tobacco industry, including tobacco farmers.

As a result, there were many demonstrations by farmers outside the conference venue.Some of the proposals being pushed by parties include replacement of tobacco by other crops that do not pose significant risks to health, elimination of flavouring in cigarettes, and adoption of plain packaging, which are all meant to reduce the appeal of cigarettes to smokers and potential smokers alike.

But the Zimbabwe is conflicted: while a major tobacco producer, it is equally concerned about the health issues. The Sunday Mail Business spoke to the CEO of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA), Mr Rodney Ambrose, who was in India and participated in the demonstrations.

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Q: Was ZTA part of the proceedings at COP7?
A: Farmers are excluded from all proceedings at the COPs. In fact, there are further proposed extreme regulations barring the participation of any entity with links to the tobacco industry attending future COPs.This includes governments that are pro-tobacco. Furthermore, the public and the Press will also be barred from covering COP proceeding in the future.

These are disappointing moves by the WHO FCTC to exclude persons, entities or government officials from attending COP meetings.

This contravenes all UN (processes) and, as such, through the International Tobacco Growers Association, we are urging governments to seek immediate reforms at the WHO FCTC.

How can you exclude the people whose livelihoods you are determined to destroy?

The FCTC Secretariat (HeadED BY Dr Vera da Costa e Silva) will not even meet tobacco farmers, despite countless attempts to meet with her!

Outside the COP7, conference grower representatives from the ITGA, including ZTA, together with hundreds of fellow growers, held demonstrations pleading to be recognised, received and participate at the COP7.

this was declined. However this will not stop us! We conducted numerous educational and media campaigns throughout the proceedings outside many high- profile venues in Greater Noida, India

Q: What were some of the critical outcomes of COP 7?
A: The COP is ongoing and final outcomes will be known by Saturday 12 November 2016. However, to date there are no areas of major concern.

Reports submitted by the WHO FCTC Working Groups have failed to contain anything substantive that will affect the industry in the short to medium-term.

There have been attempts by anti-tobacco organisations and countries to force certain agendas but these have been quickly shot down by friendly countries, including our own. Not everything is about health.

Q: Over the years, Articles 9, 10, 17 and 18 of the FCTC have proved contentious, particularly with tobacco growers. Has there been any further discussions on these issues at the current COP? And what progress has been made in this regard?
A: At a number of COPs it was stressed by many parties that until the WHO FCTC engages directly with farmers or their representatives, proposals on 17 and18 will not be accepted.

Flimsy attempts to table alternative crops to tobacco have been rejected.

We continue to urge the WHO FCTC to adhere as to what was agreed to at the last COP and engage farmers on these particular articles. On 9 and 10, these remain very contentious as the WHO FCTC is yet to provide any proven scientific evidence on what they would like to propose and again in the absence of such evidence these proposals will not pass.

There is an attempt to regulate nicotine content to unsustainable levels both in field practices and cigarette manufacturing.  These must be rejected. All these articles remain a threat to the tobacco industry and must not be taken seriously as they are proposed by unreasonable organisations.

We are very fortunate that at each COP more and more countries are calling for more transparency and inclusiveness.

Q: Do Zimbabwean tobacco growers have any reasons to be worried about COP7?
A: Every COP is a concern to tobacco growers as the WHO FCTC engages in its business without consulting tobacco growers.

We, through the ITGA, will continue to lobby governments across the globe against draconian, unreasonable regulations that do not consider the millions of tobacco farmers, their families, importance of foreign currency earnings to many countries and the millions of jobs created.

We are very concerned by the attempts by the WHO FCTC to exclude tobacco from international trade agreements. Proposals are almost to the extreme that there should be special trade agreements for tobacco and tobacco trade must be removed from WTO and placed under the WHO FCTC.

This attempt well exceeds the mandate of a UN health organisation and we will fight this.

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