"The Regie Libanaise des Tabacs et
Tombacs continues to manufacture tobacco products at reduced prices and promote its businesses by holding 'corporate social responsibility' activities, which are flagrant violations of Law 174," he said.
Summary: REa[c]gie Libanaise des Tabacs et
Tombacs (REa[c]gie), the State-owned tobacco monopoly, signed an agreement with the UK-based Imperial Tobacco Company to produce international brands Ee"GitanesEe", Ee"GauloisesEe", and Ee"WestEe" in REa[c]gieEe's facilities.
The speaker announced a Dutch firm had showed interest in working with the Lebanese state in the cannabis market, and he called for the formation of a state entity in the vein of the Regie Libanaise des Tabacs et
Tombacs to manage the crop, with its main headquarters in Baalbeck.
Many farmers in Yammouneh fall far below that and would potentially be unable to receive licenses, whether from a state organ in the vein of the Regie Libanaise des Tabacs et
Tombacs, as proposed by Berri, or private companies, as in Habchi's draft law.
Cabinet also approved a draft law for developmental projects in Akkar, Baalbeck, Hermel, Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas, worth a total of $225 million; and assigned the Lebanese Army, the Higher Relief Committee and Regie Libanaise Des Tabacs Et
Tombacs to survey climate change-related damage to tobacco farms in south Lebanon.
But, despite this increasing demand, dokha has yet to be officially licensed for sale in Lebanon by the Regie Libanaise de Tabacs et
Tombacs, a public organization controlled by the Finance Ministry.
Lebanon's government-owned Regie Libanaise des Tabacs et
Tombacs, better known as Regie, is the only firm authorized to produce and import cigarettes and tobacco and is a rare success story among the country's often-dysfunctional state companies.