Agricultural prices 1997/1998: premiums for leaf tobacco

Agricultural prices 1997/98 - tobacco The Commission recently submitted a report on the operation of the common organization of the market in the tobacco sector which put forward some ideas concerning the future of the system. Following discussion of these ideas proposals will be made which should enter into force from the 1998 harvest, seeking to implement a fundamental reform of the sector. The key element for the future of the sector is the improvement of the quality of the product which will necessarily require a substantial modification to the provisions on the premium, i.e. to make a significant part of the premium dependent on the quality of the tobacco determined by its market price. For the 1997 harvest it should be stressed that the guarantee thresholds (quotas) had already been set by the Council some time earlier. The Commission proposes maintaining the premium at the same level as in 1996 for each of the eight groups of varieties. �