Malawi

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lene bags used for containing fertilizers, maize or Sal; feathers; stones; metal objects; eggs; bricks; grass; and MT9 or MT12 strings. The materials may be left in graded and baled tobacco deliberately or accidentally. Plastic materials and feathers are toxic to smokers, hence, the need to consider only NTRM free tobacco at the Auction floors.


This fact is very much related to nesting which is the deliberate placement of NTRM/ foreign matter, sub-standard cured tobacco hands or scraps and any other material in graded and baled tobacco with the intention of obtaining more weight from a small amount of quality tobacco. The material is placed in such a way that only thorough checking on the floors or in the factory is required to spot the malpractice. There has been a particular sharp increase in the cases of NTRM so far, recorded by Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) on the Kanengo floors this year (2004) as compared to the past two years. This sharp increase is due to the cases of plastic contamination detected in bales. Checking for plastic contamination on the Kanengo floors has been rigorous this year because international buyers are unhappy with the amount of plastic contamination in Malawi tobacco. Some tobacco has been rejected abroad and it has so far been sent back to Malawi because of the tobacco contamination.

Demerits of This Malpractice to Tobacco Industry

i. NTRM contamination has slowed down tobacco sales on the auction floors because of congestion in the factories as the “green leaf” is meticulously being checked for plastic and other NTRM mechanically as well as manually. Some processing factories have established new departments to handle the NTRM contamination problem. All these measures are costly and the tobacco farmer at the end of the day bears the cost.

ii. This malpractice also spoils our reputation on the international markets and the result of this is that there are reduced prices for our t...