BENEFITS FOR
EACH LINK:
PRODUCERS
- Sales guarantee
- Technical and finance assistance
- Transport of the crop (logistic)
COMPANIES
- Crop planning
- Product quality and integrity
- Assurance of supply
CLIENTS
- Regular supply
- Guaranteed quality
- ISOProtection
- Traceability
The definition of the price is always a touchy
point in this relation. Year after year, the negotia-
tions involve several entities either linked to the
farmers or to the industries. The president of the
Tobacco Growers’ Association of Brazil (Afubra),
Benício Werner, believes that, despite occasional
disagreements,“thereisnobettermarketlawthan
offer and demand”. With the authority of some-
one who knows the tricks of the sector for more
than half a century, he recalls that one of the tens-
est moments of the ITPS took place at the end of
the 1970s. “The tobacco grading system, which
had been in force since the beginning, changed
and the North-American model was introduced.
It was difficult for many farmers to have a grasp of
this change, which turned out to be of fundamen-
tal importance for Brazil to consolidate its position
asmajor global leaf exporter”, he recalls.
The president of the Interstate Tobacco Indus-
try Union (SindiTabaco), Iro Schünke, emphasiz-
es that the changes in the legislation and the tech-
nological strides reinforce even further the links
between the companies and the farmers. “There
were juridical gains, delimiting roles and responsi-
bilities within this integration. As for the new tech-
nologies, they have improved both the quantity
and quality of the tobacco, and, above all, made
growers’workeasier”, he insists.
Schünke maintains that, acting together, the
sector manages to connect and advance in ques-
tions related to growers’ health and safety, reverse
logistics, preservation of the environment and
child and adolescent protection, an area in which
the sector is seen by the International Labor Orga-
nization (OLI) as anexample.
Inor Ag. Assmann
