FAIFA asks govt to reject 'extreme' proposals at WHO FCTC COP7

Tobacco farmers body Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA) today asked the government to reject 'extreme' proposals which "are not evidence-based" at the upcoming WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control COP7.
In an appeal signed by tobacco farmers from various states, FAIFA requested the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and government to include tobacco farmers in the official Indian delegation to the upcoming WHO FCTC COP7.
The WHO is holding the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of Parties (COP7) meeting in India from 7-12 November, 2016.
"Ad hoc decisions on tobacco control at this conference, as in previous such meetings, will affect the livelihood of millions of tobacco farmers and farm labourers involved in tobacco cultivation in the country," FAIFA said in a statement.

FAIFA President BV Javare Gowda said, "A democratic and participative approach in the formation of the Indian delegation to COP7 will ensure that the farmers and the industry view point on various proposals arising out of the COP7 agenda is taken cognizance of and no unilateral and discriminatory one-sided decision is taken by the parties to the conference that is hostile to the livelihood of millions dependent on tobacco in India."
Claiming to represent farmers of the commercial crop across states, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, FAIFA said it has also applied to the WHO FCTC Secretariat to give observer status to tobacco farmers in the FCTC COP7.

This will allow farmers, one of the key stakeholders of the tobacco community, to understand the future course of actions being proposed by the WHO on tobacco control and the impact of these measures on their tobacco crops.
The applications and requests of the farmers have not been acknowledged by the WHO, it added.