World Tobacco Growers’ Day observed

President Anjuman Kashtkaran, Rustam Khan Swati, said, “As we celebrate the benefit our farms bring to our communities, we are also asking our leaders to stand with us, to hear our voices and to give us the opportunity to work together to protect our way of life.” He said that tobacco was the major crop of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and minor crop of Punjab. The livelihood of more than 40,000 growers would be in peril if FCTC measures became law.

“If these measures become law, it will have a dire impact on the livelihoods of Pakistani tobacco growers, especially those in KPK, while the government exchequer will also face 37 percent loss in terms of Federal Excise Duty (FED) which is contributed by the tobacco industry and farmers,” he added. The FCTC proposals will be voted on in two weeks’ time at WHO’s meeting in Seoul, South Korea. Swati pointed out that the tobacco growers support the original intent of the FCTC’s article 17 treaty, which was to provide “technical and financial assistance to aid the economic transition of tobacco growers and workers.”

However, the proposals under consideration currently represent a departure from this goal as they seek to artificially reduce the supply of tobacco without providing growers any viable alternatives to support their families. Moreover, estimates suggest that demand for tobacco will increase in coming years. Last month, growers in four continents launched a petition drive to ask their local government to oppose these elements of the proposals that will be voted on by the FCTC.

As part of World Tobacco Growers’ Day, these petitions were delivered to the minister of finance, chairman FBR, chairman Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) and minister of commerce, calling for their support in favour of tobacco growers and opposition to any plans that would threaten their livelihoods. Swati alleged that the FCTC had not heard the growers and had gone off track in pursuing absurd proposals that were contrary to its original mandate. The Anjuman asked the government to make them part of the whole process so that growers could contribute to the law making.