Resolutions for 2013 were approved by The Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina during their organization's Annual Meeting, Feb. 1, at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. The complete list of resolutions adopted outlining the organization's goals and principles is a long one, but a summary list of the new and/or modified resolutions for 2013 is below. Some of the resolutions include:
• We implore all commodity groups and the tobacco leadership groups and governmental entities to come together with commitment and support to resolve the farm worker labor concerns that impact the livelihood of the farm families in North Carolina.
• We oppose detrimental federal intervention, lawsuits and other unwarranted attacks on a legal industry. We recognize that tobacco is a legal commodity representing an extremely large amount of international trade; therefore we insist that all agencies and individuals representing the United States in any area of trade be allowed to promote the high quality, comparative value of U.S. tobacco, including fair treatment in all trade agreements.
Tobacco Association Approves New Resolutions For 2013
• We call upon tobacco companies that contract with growers to continue to develop policies and practices that are fair and inclusive of all growers with regards to the economic welfare of tobacco producers as a whole.
• We oppose any future increase in the state or federal excise tax on tobacco products.
• We further recommend that our Association and other tobacco supportive organizations continue to publicize the economic benefits of tobacco to our nation's policy makers in terms of jobs and tax revenue.
• We are concerned that essentially no new funds are allocated by the Agricultural Research Service of USDA for tobacco research. We believe this is discriminatory to tobacco farmers and specifically request that additional funds be allocated for regional research on tobacco based upon the enormous tax contribution this industry makes to our governmental budgets. This is especially true as we continue to await FDA regulatory authority.