Are some farmers supplying the tobacco for the rapidly increasing amount of contraband cigarettes?
Tobacco farmers grow raw leaf and do not process tobacco ready for cigarette tubes; only multinational manufacturers have this capability and the facilities. The notion that some farmers may be selling tobacco out the back door to illegal cigarette-makers is a misconception. There is careful monitoring of farm acreage and crop sales by AGRICORP (the government agency that insures farm crops), the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board and private crop insurance companies. Quota holders face substantial penalties, which include losing all their quota, if convicted of selling outside the legal marketplace and the Marketing Board auction system.
