According to JC, Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Favaro, revealed that he will advocate for the protection of the tobacco industry and support the legalization of heat-added tobacco products and e-cigarettes at the 10th Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP10) conference in Panama in November.
At the meeting, Councilman Marcus Vinicius and others presented a report on the importance of the tobacco industry to help the federal government understand the problem. He revealed that Minister Favaro would vigorously defend the tobacco industry chain, saying that the Brazilian government should fully protect its seeds, and would ask the Ministry of Health not to oppose it, at least at the meeting. The report also says governments need to step up research to find economically viable alternative crops for producing families.
Vinicius believes that Brazil should allow new technologies to help consumers reduce the harm caused by tobacco, such as heat-added tobacco and e-cigarettes. However, the illegal trade has flourished due to a ban by Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), which allows the production and sale of these products.
Brazil is the world’s second largest tobacco producer and the largest tobacco exporter, with 95% of its production going abroad. Despite the continued decline in global tobacco consumption, parliament has insisted on protecting the industry. Vinicius said they are not against alternative tobacco, but that governments should not ban cultivation or industrialization, and should support and promote research, encourage the identification of crops suitable for production areas, and develop markets for alternative crops.