Tobacco, Masiello: “Mipaaf-Philip Morris Italy agreement excellent news for tobacco regions”

“The renewal for 2022 of Philip Morris Italia’s commitments with the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies relating to support for the Italian tobacco sector represents excellent news for territories specialized in tobacco production, such as Campania, Umbria , Veneto and Tuscany “. This was declared by Gennarino Masiello, president of Ont Italia and national vice president of Coldiretti, commenting on the agreement between Mipaaf and Philip Morris Italia for the promotion of the Italian tobacco supply chain. “With today’s signing – he explains – the will of SMEs, now ten years old, to invest important resources in our country and to continue the action in favor of predictability and sustainability for tobacco producers who are part of the supply chain agreements, is confirmed, now essential tools to guarantee vision and future to the production chains “. “The current scenario, characterized by strong geopolitical tensions and with a pandemic still not under control, determines important repercussions on production costs and uncertainty on the strategic trajectories of companies”, observes Masiello who adds: “For this reason, the possibility for a part of to be able to count on stable, multi-year agreements, characterized by a strong integration of the supply chain and by important commitments in terms of volumes of purchases and services, must be welcomed with great favor, also in consideration of the difficulties present both at sectorial level and for the entire Italian agriculture “. “The other good news of these days – continues the president of Ont Italia and national vice president of Coldiretti – concerns the disbursement to agricultural producers of the economic bonus by SMEs with which to contribute to addressing the critical issues related to cost growth of production in 2021 and to support the digital and ecological transition processes in that part of the supply chain that falls within the scope of the agreements. The hope is that the entire Italian tobacco sector, as well as other national agricultural productions, can increasingly be organized within the framework of stable, integrated relational models capable of improving the competitive position of farmers along the value chain “, concludes Masiello.