FAQ

The Tobacco Commission (The Commission) formerly known as Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) is statutory corporate body formed in 1938 and established by the Act of Parliament with the mandate to regulate the production and marketing of tobacco in Malawi. The Commission was regulated by repealed acts of Chap 65:02 and Chap65:03 but now regulated by the Tobacco Industry Act of 2019 which became effective in February 2019

The Tobacco Commission (The Commission) formerly known as Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) is statutory corporate body formed in 1938 and established by the Act of Parliament with the mandate to regulate the production and marketing of tobacco in Malawi. The Commission was regulated by repealed acts of Chap 65:02 and Chap65:03 but now regulated by the Tobacco Industry Act of 2019 which became effective in February 2019

Vision

• .Sustained tobacco production and marketing

Mission Statemet

Mandated to provide regulatory services to promote tobacco production and marketing systems in a transparent and environmentally friendly manner using modern technologies

Core Values

1. Stakeholder focus

• We shall at all times dedicate ourselves to execute our work focusing on the tobacco industry stakeholders’ mutual benefits and satisfaction

2.  Professionalism

– We shall professionally execute our mandate in an open and accountable manner.

3. Team work

• Team works shall always form the backbone of our service.

4.  Environmental consciousness

• We shall at all times be conscious of the environment

Tobacco Commmission has the following stakeholders

1. Tobacco growers
2. Tobacco buyers
3. Tobacco Transporters
4. Growers Associations
5. Transporters Associations
6.  Hessian schemes
7. Tobacco graders
8. Tobacco processors
9. Tobacco importers
10. Tobacco exporters

To become a tobacco grower you must get registered with and licensed with Tobacco commission

and you are given growers license as an authorization for tobacco production

it is against the law to grow tobacco without licence

For all registered growers; they can visit Tobacco Commission division offices (Lilongwe, Kasungu, Mzuzu, Limbe) for licensing of allocated quota

Currently every Kgs is licensed at MK10.73 . For example if you have been allocated quota of 1000Kgs then its licensing fee is MK10,730.00

NB; Use Quota Calculator to calculate licensing fee by yourself Quota-Calculator

The following are requirements

Grower Registration

Registration of growers falls into 3 categories namely

• New Estate applicant,
• New Club applicant and
• an existing grower who has been inactive and is not captured into the registration and licensing system.

Grower biometrics capturing

New Estate Application

In order to capture a new Estate applicant, these steps must be followed:

1. Grower must present the following:
   1. National Identity Card for identification
   2. Valid map and offer of lease for a piece of land issued by Ministry of Lands.
2. Application is vetted by an authorized officer from the vetting committee.

• Application is approved by DM or his/her designate.

1. Grower biometrics shall be captured
2. New card is issued

New Corporate Estate Application

For growers with more than one Estate they shall be registered as corporate growers as follows:

1. For each new estate, grower must present all documents as in i above
2. Applicant’s name and owner name on the documents must be the same

• Application is vetted by an authorized officer from the vetting committee.

1. Application is approved by DM or his/her designate.
2. Registration and Licensing Supervisor must send a request to the ICT Manager to create new corporate estate in the system.
3. Once estate is created grower biometrics shall be captured

• New cards are issued

New Club Application

For new club application, these steps must be followed:

1. Grower must present the following:
   1. National Identity Card for identification
   2. Letter of introduction from the EPA
2. Application is vetted by an authorized officer from the vetting committee.

• Application is approved by DM or his/her designate.

1. Growers’ biometrics for a minimum of four members shall be captured
2. New cards are issued

New Club member capturing

For new club member capturing, these steps must be followed:

1. Grower must present the following:
   1. National Identity Card for identification
   2. Letter of introduction from the EPA
2. Must be accompanied by one of the executive member with the TGR card from the club he/she wants to join.

• The documents must be vetted by the Registration and Licensing Supervisor or his/her designate

1. Grower biometrics shall be captured and added to the club
2. New card is issued

Grower Licensing

The following are the steps
1.  Quota enquiry

Grower must present either of the following to the Liaison Officer:

1. TGR Card or AHL Identification Card
2. Seller number
3. Liaison Officer must search, write allocated quota on a piece of paper counter-signed and issue to the enquirer

2.   Generation of license application form

To generate license application form, these steps must be followed:

1. Grower must present TGR Card
2. Cashier scans TGR card
3. Cashier issues a system generated form to the grower
4. Cashier checks allocated quota from the system and endorses on the form

3 Filling of license application form

With guidance by the Cashier, grower must fill in the license application form

4 Payment of license fees

Grower must present the following to the Cashier:

1. TGR Card
2. Filled license application form
3. Cashier scans the TGR card and advises grower to authenticate with his/her fingerprints
4. Cashier supply allocated quota into the system which generates the license fees
5. Cashier receives the license fees and issues a system generated receipt
6. Cashier prints duplicate receipt which is later filed

This is quantity of tobacco in Kgs that is allocated to a grower to be produced within a particular growing season based on Market trade requirements for that season.