The Hindu Business Line : Plea to ban import of global cigarette brands

THE tobacco farmers of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have urged the Union Government to withdraw the permission given to international cigarette multinationals for export of their brands to India. This would encourage a back-door entry for foreign direct investment for these companies, they say.

In a representation made to the Union Finance and Commerce Ministries, the farmers have pointed out that while the Government has banned FDI in tobacco and cigarettes, allowing multinational cigarette companies to export would defeat the intention of the policy to discourage foreign investment in the sector.

"We are agitated about the attempts by the international cigarette multinationals to enter India through the backdoor,'' said Mr S.M. Anantharamu, President of Karnataka Tobacco Growers Association.

He said that in the representations made by the farmers from both the states have urged the Government to incorporate the "word ban on FDI in cigarettes and tobacco into the country's industrial policy itself".

Farmers apprehend that the increasing sale of premium international cigarette brands in India would directly eat into their tobacco sales and their livelihood, because these international cigarette brands do not use Indian tobacco at all. Besides, the entry of foreign cigarette multinationals into the Indian market will significantly boost contraband cigarette sales in our country.

While expressing concern at Philip Morris, the largest cigarette multinational suing its subsidiary, Philip Morris Services International (PMSI) to distribute its brands, Mr Anantharamu said the Government should withdraw the export permission as it could encourage the company to gain control through its Indian arm for distribution of its brands.

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