The government is still compiling a roadmap related to the management of tobacco products. The Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs said that this roadmap will involve all sectors, starting from the tobacco agriculture sector, regulating the tobacco products industry sector, controlling the consumption of tobacco products, to optimizing excise revenues. "The Roadmap for the Management of Tobacco Products, in principle, the directions and policies are in accordance with Government Regulations (PP) 109/2012, taking into account the protection of public health from the dangers of smoking and reducing the prevalence rate of smokers in the population aged 10 to 18 years," said Susi in her statement, Tuesday (13/13/9).
According to him, until now there has been no discussion regarding the planned revision of Government Regulation No. 109 of 2012 concerning the Safety of Materials Containing Addictive Substances in the Form of Tobacco Products for Health. “With the revision of PP 109/2012, supervision of the tobacco products industry will be tightened so that the IHT (tobacco products industry) movement will be limited. It is feared that this situation will cause IHT to experience a deep contraction and be accompanied by a decline in performance. In fact, the tobacco products industry is currently still in the process of economic recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic," he explained. He added that the proposed revision of PP 109/2012 still requires further discussion with the relevant ministries and institutions, especially in terms of mitigating the affected parties. The Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, Susi continued, is in the coordination stage with relevant ministries and institutions to develop mitigation and arrangements for farmers, entrepreneurs, and even consumers. According to Susiwijono, the current PP 109/2012 has regulated IHT comprehensively by considering the balance of various aspects such as health, state revenues, upstream-downstream business sustainability, and employment. "Supervision over the implementation of PP 109/2012 in the field is currently not optimal, so the aspect that needs attention is implementation in the field," he said. Susi also said that the revision of PP 109/2012 will increase the circulation of illegal cigarettes which are not in accordance with the health goal of reducing the prevalence of child smokers. This revision will also threaten the sustainability of legal IHT and provide opportunities for illegal cigarette producers to grow. Previously, General Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Cigarette Manufacturers (GAPPRI) Henry Najoan asked the government to protect the sustainability of the tobacco products industry by not revising PP 109/2012. The reason is, the revision of PP 109/2012 will burden IHT which has contributed significantly to state revenue and labor absorption. “GAPPRI firmly rejects changes to PP 109/2012. The reason is, we see that the current PP 109/2012 is still relevant to be implemented,” said Henry. Henry also highlighted that the proposed amendment to PP 109/2012 also tends to be restrictive because the proposed provision is in the form of a ban. According to Henry, regulations that refer to statutory provisions should focus on control, not prohibition. "Cigarettes are legal products in accordance with the decision of the Constitutional Court so they have the same rights as other legal products," he concluded.
