June 2023 – The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was the first international treaty on public health in the history of the World Health Organization (WHO). Represented by 192 countries that are members of the World Health Assembly, the treaty attracted the biggest number of adhesions in the history of the United Nations Organization. In the month of November, Brazil will take part in the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP 10), promoted by the FCTC, which this year will be held in Panama. With the aim to clarify and previously debate on the stance of the Country in this global meeting, federal deputy Alceu Moreira requested the public hearing held on Thursday, June 15, at the House of Representatives, in Brasília.
“I decided for the debate on tobacco because of the degree of injustice, disinformation, ideologically oriented, political correctness because I have witnessed an unfolding
paradox: harsh criticism is coming from Marijuana advocates. It seems contradictory and out of indignation I entered a trench that causes discomfort and political deterioration, but with an absolute happy feeling of promoting justice. As time went by, we decided to leave behind our embarrassing discourse, in the condition of someone that keeps playing defense. Now we say loud and clear: we are an integral part of our agribusiness, we produce a licit crop, we are not committing a crime, the tobacco farmers are not responsible for the number of smokers in Brazil. Now, we want to hear, but above all, tell Brazilian people that we do not have a passion for the habit of smoking, and equally no passion for excessive alcohol use. We are proud of engaging in constructive debates with the aim to protect a licit crop and we refuse to be reprimanded for growing tobacco”, the parliament member said at the beginning of the session.
The public hearing was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign affairs (MFA), Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) and the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming. The Ministry of Health did not attend the public hearing, but sent a note, which was read by Moreira. According to the note, the Ministry declined the invitation because the WHO has not yet disclosed the agenda for the COP 10, which is supposed to occur in August, thus making it “unnecessary” for the Ministry to take part in the debates.
Matheus Machado de Carvalho, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ global health division, presented a summary of the FCTC ratification history and the participation of the Itamaraty Palace in this process. He commented that there is still no process to define the stance of the Brazilian delegation with regard to these themes and that the matter will be defined by the National Committee for the Implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (CONICQ, in the Portuguese acronym), disciplinary committee created for this purpose. The representative of the Itamaraty Palace, commented that, in theory, the works were interrupted by the former government and that there is an internal process for restructuring the CONICQ, based on the structure of the new government. “We were inquired about it and, in principle, we will have a representative. The Ministry of Health is responsible for the consultation process among the Ministries, and the structure is likely to be similar to the previous structure”, he said.
Clecivaldo Sousa Ribeiro, general coordinator at MAPA’s vegetable division, spoke to the attendees about the relevant participation of tobacco in Brazilian agribusiness, especially in the generation of income and jobs. “All tobacco farmers comply with strict rules relative to the production of tobacco in Brazil, in line with legislation. Tobacco fields in Brazil are sustainable fields, greatly concerned about using small tracts of land, focused on high productivity levels with the use of modern technologies, side by side with areas devoted to vegetable production”, he clarified.
Marcos Vinicius, coordinator of MAPA’s Value Added division, talked about the tobacco production certification process in Brazil and the social and environmental assurances granted by the MAPA label. “We were contacted, on a voluntary basis, to certify the crop, and we firmly declare that our tobacco in Brazil is sustainable: there is no slave work in it, it does not destroy the environment and all its development stages are certified”, he explained.
Manoel Mendonça, coordinator at MDA’s Technical Assistance and Rural Extension division. Talked about the role of the MDA in the implementation of the Framework Convention. “MDA’s role consists in offering more sustainable alternatives to the tobacco farmers, and some of the alternatives, like fruit farming and small livestock operations, have been implemented in some municipalities. Our objective consists in protecting the tobacco farmers against market uncertainties and possible future declines in demand. We never lose sight of the social and economic importance of tobacco and we know that it is a process that does not happen abruptly”, he concluded.
The public hearing was attended by the following representatives of the tobacco supply chain: the president of the Tobacco Growers’ Association of Brazil (Afubra), Benício Albano Werner; chief executive of Abifumo, Giuseppe Lobo; and the representative of the Rio Grande do Sul Sate Federation of Agricultural Workers (FETAG-RS) and Fentifumo.
Iro Schünke, president of the Interstate Tobacco Industry Union (SindiTabaco), began his talk by emphasizing the lack of transparency of the debates conducted at the FCTC meetings. “The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is the worst dictatorship I know, where the real interested parties are not allowed to take part in the debates. The we normally hear, and there are many of them, especially in the area of health, have to be rebutted with facts. It is the case of the pitiable campaign we saw on May 31, where a child is sitting in front of a dinner plate full of cigarette ash. It is an aggression to the child and to the tobacco sector, which produces a licit crop that generates income and jobs for millions of Brazilians and is a protagonist in sustainable production, the so-called ESG. My intervention is to discover what stance the Brazilian delegation will adopt at the upcoming COP 10 meeting and warn about the consequences from a poorly conducted positioning at the COP”, Schünke commented.
Besides representatives of the federal government and entities linked to the sector, several politicians attended the public hearing, which is the case of the federal deputy from Rio Grande do Sul, Marcelo Moraes. “Last year, CQCT’s intention was focused on the reduction in the number of smokers, but as time went by, they started their attacks against the production of tobacco: they tried to limit the areas devoted to the crop, and began to extinguish credit lines for the tobacco farmers. My suggestion is that, from now on, we should start contacting those ministries that could contribute towards the Brazilian stance at the upcoming COP, because we are talking about the most exported product in Rio Grande do Sul and the eighth in Brazil”, Federal deputy Marcelo Moraes argued.
At the end of the hearing, the group defined the construction of a base document to be shared in these public interest strategic meetings at the ministries and committees of public interest. “Our work consists in constructing, with articulation and with absolute respect to divergent ideas, the space tobacco is entitled to use in Brazil’s agribusiness, like an absolutely licit crop and does not deserve to be recommended or reprimanded by any person”, Moreira concluded at the moment the meeting was ended.
TO KNOW – Globally, the biggest tobacco growers, in descending order, are as follows: China, Brazil, India, Zimbabwe, the United States, Malawi, Argentina, Tanzania, Mozambique and Indonesia. It has to be emphasized that China produces twice as much tobacco as Brazil, which, in turn, produces twice as much tobacco as India. On the other hand, the leading exporters of tobacco include Brazil, which has been leading the ranking for 30 years, followed by India, Zimbabwe, China, Malawi, the United States, Italy, Argentina, Turkey, the Philippines. In the past season, only the South Region of Brazil produced 560 thousand tons of tobacco, totaling the generation of R 9.5 billion for 128 thousand families of small scale farmers, in 488 municipalities.
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