Conrad Mupesa Mash West Correspondent
tobacco wrapping paper supplier, Propak, has warned farmers against buying hessian wrapping packs from unauthorised dealers to protect their tobacco quality.

This comes after counterfeit wrapping packs suspected to have been smuggled from Zambia flooded the market with farmers unknowingly purchasing them for use.

Speaking to The Herald recently, Propak’s account administrator, Felistus Hove, urged farmers to comply with Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) requirements so that their crop is not rejected at the floors.

“The hessian (tobacco wrapping paper) that has since flooded the market from countries like Zambia is not recommended by TIMB,” she said.

“Most of those packs affect the quality of the tobacco since they are thick as compared to those approved by TIMB, which are supplied by local tobacco companies.”

The packs that are recommended by TIMB and currently being supplied to tobacco farmers by local tobacco companies are imported from India.

Propak distributes at least two million hessian packs each season, a figure that has been gradually increasing in the wake of the influx of communal farmers into growing tobacco.