The International Tobacco Growers’ Association 2022 Annual General Meeting gathers tobacco growers’ representatives from five continents in Castelo Branco, Portugal.

As legitimate grower representatives, members of the International Tobacco Growers’ Association call for inclusion in the global, regional, and country level consultations shaping the present and future of the sector.

By preventing growers’ access to the ongoing discussions, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) acts against the international institutions’ rules of procedures and therefore against its own. Growers urge for closer and stronger engagement with partners to overcome the common challenges facing tobacco growing. Costs of production and price stagnation, in the face of rapid inflation, means that growers need support from all industry stakeholders to fight pressing issues, including the effects of climate change, deforestation and child labour.