The European Union is to withdraw the massive subsidies it pays to tobacco growers following a bitter battle among agricultural ministers in Brussels.
The decision to withdraw payments for what is the most subsidised crop in Europe reflects unease about helping tobacco farmers while EU states campaign to get people to give up smoking.
The United Kingdom, which pays £88-million of the £650-million annual subsidy, was among a group of northern European states that demanded an end to the payment.
The EU has 1 000 tobacco growers and is the world’s fifth-largest tobacco producer, with 75% of its crop being grown in Greece and Italy.
Smoking kills an estimated 500 000 Europeans a year yet EU farmers are paid £5 250 a hectare to grow tobacco. Wheat farmers receive £240 a hectare.
In the UK alone the country’s state-funded health service spends £1,5-billion a year treating people with smoking related diseases and the government currently spends £30-million on anti-smoking education campaigns and £40-million is spent helping people stop smoking.
Europe produces 350 000 tonnes of tobacco alongside fields of sunflowers and durum wheat, used in pasta, which campaigners say should be grown as an alternative and could be as profitable.
The UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Europe’s largest wildlife conservation charity, is appalled at the quantities of pesticides used on tobacco and was among the groups that lobbied ministers to end the subsidy.
Action on Smoking and Health and the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health (RSPH), both of the UK, also urged an end to the payments.
They want the money to be used to encourage farmers to grow more useful crops or go into industries like tourism.
Alistair McCapra of the RSPH said: ”The subsidy system was set up to guarantee a supply of affordable food for Europe by paying for production. It is absurd that tobacco should have been included in this system at all.”
Under the new plan, almost half the money will be used to help farmers switch to other crops or leave farming.
Franz Fischler, the EU Agriculture Commissioner, announced a hard-fought deal — including olive oil and cotton — despite opposition from Spain, which demanded more money for its olive growers.
Payments based on quantities of crops are being replaced in most cases with smaller flat payments linked to environmental issues. For cotton, olive oil and hops, all aid will stop being linked to production from 2006.
All tobacco subsidies will be withdrawn by 2010.
It was one of the issues outstanding on the first major reform of the union’s £30-billion subsidy system — half of all EU spending.
Sugar remains the last major sector needing to be brought into the new system.
EU officials hope the reforms will bolster their position in world trade negotiations that stalled since the collapse of talks last year in Cancun.
Developing countries such as Brazil, the United States and Canada have blamed the current system for creating EU food surpluses that are dumped on world markets, undercutting competitors and squeezing producers in Africa and the world’s poor countries. — Â