site.btaAgriculture Ministry Publishes Draft Amendments of Tobacco Act for Public Consultation

Agriculture Ministry Publishes
Draft Amendments of Tobacco Act
for Public Consultation


Sofia, December 13 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Ministry of Agriculture
and Food Saturday published on its Website draft amendments to
the Tobacco and Tobacco Products Act for public consultation.
The revisions are intended to strike a balance between total
market liberalization and total market regulation.

The Ministry's proposals come in the wake of tobacco growers'
protests in Southwestern Bulgaria on Friday.

Under the amendments, a Tobacco Chamber will be registered as an
independent centralized 'supra-industry' body (following the
model of most European countries), vertically integrating all
levels of the tobacco sector, from planting to the finished
products. The Chamber will be structured according to
established representativeness criteria. It will ensure
integrity of relations in the sector.

The mechanisms for control of the production of and trade in
tobacco seeds will be adapted to the Executive Agency of Variety
Testing, Field Inspection and Seed Control, which is the only
officially accredited authority. The idea is to cope with an
ever deteriorating quality of the tobacco grown in Bulgaria and
to respond to the challenges of the domestic and international
market.

The provisions of the law concerning tobacco experts and their
intervention in the independent quality rating of tobacco upon
purchase will be updated as well.

Two new registers will be set up: of producers and of traders,
with minimum eligibility criteria for inclusion. The tobacco
producers' register will include information on tobacco purchase
contracts for the current campaign, data on the tobacco planned
to be purchased by contract and the quantities actually
purchased. Only registered persons may produce tobacco within
Bulgarian territory. Entry of information on the contract in the
register will be mandatory.

The traders' register will contain essential information on the
persons engaged in tobacco purchasing. An emphasis will also be
laid on the registration of persons trading in unprocessed
tobacco destined for direct sale. PK/LG

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