site.bta Tobacco Farmers Want New Legislation

Tobacco Farmers Want New Legislation

Silistra, on the Danube, January 16 (BTA) - Tobacco farmers call
for new legislation to require that different tobacco varieties
should be grown in different parts of Bulgaria depending on the
soil and weather characteristics of each region.

Bulgarian National Tobacco Growers' Association (BNTGA)
President Tsvetan Filev said earlier this week that each tobacco
variety has been developed according to specific soil and
weather conditions and if it is grown in the wrong place, the
crop will be of lower quality.

Therefore, BNTGA wants the above-mentioned requirement to be
enshrined in the Tobacco and Tobacco Products Act. Another
proposed amendment to this law is aimed to make it compulsory
for tobacco growers to join a national organization governing
their industry.

BNTGA urged the creation of registers of tobacco growers and
wholesale tobacco buyers. According to Filev, the idea is to
establish a notification procedure through which traders will
name the amounts of tobacco they want to buy and sign purchase
contracts. The association said that independent government
experts should act as arbiters to settle disputes between
tobacco farmers and traders.

Filev said reports about a drastic fall of the wholesale price
of tobacco are failing to acknowledge the fact that the average
price of the crop has been influenced by the price of tobacco
gathered in the fourth picking, which is of poorer quality than
in the first three pickings.

Wholesalers have already purchased the entire crop of the
Virginia variety, around 90 per cent of the Burley and Kabakulak
varieties, and between 50 and 60 per cent of the Basmi variety,
Filev said. He expects the purchasing campaign to end by the
last days of February.