Treaty rules could stop exports of burley tobacco

The market for a major variety of tobacco "would be devastated by proposed international regulations designed to restrict the content of cigarettes, according to growers and lawmakers who are fighting the proposal," James R. Carroll reports for The Courier-Journal of Louisville. (C-J photo by James Crisp: Ryan Peach of Lawrenceburg, Ky., tends his crop)

The variety is burley, which is the main type of tobacco grown in Kentucky, Tennessee and some other states. "Because of its harsh characteristics, burley requires the use of flavorings and processing ingredients as it is blended with other tobaccos," Carroll notes. But cigarettes could contain nothing but tobacco, under regulations that the World Health Organization is developing under an international tobacco treaty that the U.S. has signed but not ratified. The regulations are on the agenda for a November meeting.

Nearly three-fourths of U.S. burley is exported, but the proposed regulations would effctively ban its export, U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky's 1st District told Carroll. He and all but one other member of the state's congressional delegation (Rep. John Yarmuith, D-Louisville) are fighting the proposal. Kentucky is the nation's leading producer of burley, generating $274 million last year for 5,000 to 10,000 farmers.

The regulations are designed to make it more difficult for cigarettes manufacturres to make their product appealing to children. Roger Quarles, president of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, said those pushing the rules "want it to taste like you-know-what so you would be less inclined to use it.” (Read more)