The the Tobacco Industry Act was officiated in 1938, then reviewed in 1971. Decades later, tobacco growers bemoaned that authorities did not protect their interests as buyers took advantage of the markets, offering low prices among other unpunished offenses. The new Tobacco Industry Act 2019 has been hailed for tackling issues raised up stakeholders. The Act has also changed the name of Tobacco Control Commission to Tobacco Commission.

“The old law was just too flat and we had no legal framework governing both auction and contract farming” said Tobacco Commission (TC) Chief Executive Officer Kayisi Sadala.

Hitting home, the new Act has addressed overproduction of tobacco. The Act has also restricred tobacco buyers from growing tobacco or engaging in transportation or grading of the leaf, among others.

The new law has also stated that all tobacco auction floors will change name to tobacco selling floors because they are now handling tobacco under contract farming or Integrated Production System (IPS) apart from auctioned tobacco.