NTA convenes tripartite talks to set new tobacco floor prices

The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) will convene its 2025 Tripartite Consultative Conference on 7–8 October at the Great Eastern Hotel in Quezon City, bringing together farmers, traders, and cigarette manufacturers to negotiate floor prices for tobacco over the next two cropping seasons.

NTA Administrator and CEO Belinda S. Sanchez said the forum reaffirms the agency’s commitment to transparency and to strengthening the industry’s value chain.

“Through this process, NTA is not only to safeguard the welfare of the tobacco farmers but also to ensure that the group consultations and deliberations lead to a clear and well-founded recommendation for a reasonable increase in the floor prices of tobacco,” Sanchez said.

Deputy Administrator for Operations Nestor C. Casela said the talks aim to identify fair floor prices for Virginia, Burley, and Native tobacco, ensuring long-term industry sustainability.

Attorney Rohbert A. Ambros, head of the NTA’s Regulation Department, added that the agency’s role is to mediate and spearhead the price negotiations among farmers, traders, and manufacturers.

Farmer leader Bernard Vicente, president of the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers Association and Cooperatives (NAFTAC), said growers are seeking an increase in floor prices ranging from P16.96 to P87.15 per kilo to offset rising input and labor costs. Vicente, who represents over 50,000 tobacco growers, also pushed for separate floor prices for improved sub-types of Virginia and Burley tobacco, citing their higher quality and production costs.

Currently, flue-cured Virginia tobacco floor prices range from P97 per kilo for Class AA to P61 for Class R. Burley prices range from P81 for Class A to P39 for Class R, while Native tobacco fetches P81 for high-grade leaves and P38 for low-grade. Actual market transactions have exceeded these benchmarks, with the highest price for Virginia leaves reaching P130 per kilo this crop year.

Under Presidential Decrees 627, 1481, and 1143, the NTA is mandated to fix floor prices through a tripartite consultative process led by its Regulation Department.

Tobacco remains the only cash crop in the Philippines with officially approved floor prices and continues to serve as a vital income source for around 2.2 million Filipinos, including more than 430,000 farmers, farm workers, and their families.