THE National Tobacco Administration (NTA) is set to decide new floor prices for tobacco for the next crop season.
In a statement on Tuesday, the government through the NTA will convene the Tripartite Consultative Conference on Sept. 6 and 7 at the NTA Central Office in Quezon City.
The biennial tripartite conference sets the stage for stakeholders to evaluate and negotiate the floor prices for unprocessed tobacco leaves.
“Upon consultation with their members at a pre-tripartite meeting in Candon City last month, we are ready with the consolidated unified cost of production per tobacco type, which we will bring to the negotiating table,” Mario E. Cabasal, president of National Association of Tobacco Farmers Associations and Cooperatives was quoted in the statement as saying.
The current floor price for the highest grade of each tobacco type is P81 per kilo for Virginia tobacco, P68 for burley, and P70 for the native variety.
Set based on prevailing market conditions such as production costs plus a reasonable margin of profit for stakeholders and growing conditions, the floor price is the minimum price allowed by the government for the procurement of tobacco from farmers.
Data from the NTA show that floor prices for high to medium grades of tobacco in the past two tripartite conferences in 2013 and 2015 have risen on average by P4.48 per kilo for Virginia, P4.8 for burley, and P3.88 for native varieties.
The new floor prices will be in force during the tobacco trading years 2018 and 2019. — Janina C. Lim
