TIMB blocks farmers from marketing crop

Harare (New Ziana)-The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has blocked at least 448 growers for side marketing their crop.

Side marketing is when tobacco growers sell their tobacco to third parties in breach of the contractual agreement that tobacco shall only be sold to or bought by the contractor who provided inputs to the grower. It is also when an individual sells tobacco on behalf of another.

The government criminalized side marketing through Statutory Instrument 77 of 2022 in a bid to protect contracting companies from unscrupulous dealers.

Under the SI, a side marketer may be required to compensate three times the loss suffered by a contractor while a person who engages inside marketing may also be imprisoned for a maximum of six months.

In a statement, TIMB said suspicion was raised when the blocked growers’ numbers sold tobacco five times or more in only 13 selling days.

“We have blocked 448 grower numbers on strong suspicion of tobacco-side marketing. We interrogated the tobacco selling system, according to sales points, looking for irregular activity that strongly indicates the illegal practice and these growers are the alleged offenders.

“The blocked grower numbers had sold tobacco five times or more in only 13 days of the 2023 tobacco marketing season. It is illogical and cost-ineffective to bring 20 bales to market on a Monday then bring 10 on Wednesday and 15 on Friday the same week only to bring similar amounts of tobacco in the following week,” it said.

The regulator said such sales behaviour was typical of tobacco farmers who sell tobacco on behalf of their peers or illegal tobacco buyers who buy the golden leaf from farmers at low prices and resell it at auction or contract floors at a higher price.

“We have blocked these growers from making more sales to make sure we only have legitimate tobacco farmers selling,” said the board.

TIMB advised the individuals with blocked grower numbers to approach their offices with their sales sheets and verify that they are legitimate tobacco growers selling their own produce.

“We will also send our technical team for farm visits to verify by physically inspecting the respective farms and if they are legitimate growers, we will unblock their grower numbers.

New Ziana