House mulls review of nicotine and tar limits<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives proposed on Monday
\nthe establishment of a special team to review the government's
\nrestriction on nicotine and tar content in clove cigarettes.<\/p>\n
Legislators from the House's Commission V for industry and
\ntrade affairs agreed in a hearing with the Federation of
\nIndonesian Cigarette Producers (Gappri) that the team was needed
\nto ensure the restriction was fair to local cigarette makers.<\/p>\n
According to the legislators, the team should comprise of
\nGappri representatives, the commission, as well as
\nrepresentatives from the government as decision makers.<\/p>\n
"We welcome the opportunity to present our views to the
\ngovernment," Ismanu said after a hearing with the House's
\nCommission V.<\/p>\n
Indonesians smoke 202 billion cigarettes a year, almost 90
\npercent of which are clove-blended cigarettes which have a higher
\ncontent of nicotine and tar.<\/p>\n
Nicotine and tar content in handmade clove-blended cigarettes
\nis averaged at 60 milligrams nicotine and 5 milligrams tar, while
\nmachine-made local cigarettes contain 50 milligrams nicotine and
\n2.5 milligrams tar.<\/p>\n
The government issued a decree in October last year which
\nrequires all cigarettes produced and sold in Indonesia to contain
\na maximum of 20 milligrams of nicotine and 1.5 milligrams of tar
\nas was suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO).<\/p>\n
The decree stated that implementation would start two years
\nfrom the date of issuance for industries producing machine-made
\ncigarettes, and between five to 10 years for hand-made
\ncigarettes.<\/p>\n
The deadline, considered to be too soon especially for small
\nscale cigarette producers, was then reviewed in Governmental
\nDecree No. 38\/2000.<\/p>\n
The new decree stipulates that implementation is to start in
\ntwo years for machine-made white cigarette producers, seven years
\nfor machine-made clove cigarette producers, and 10 years for
\nhandmade clove cigarette producers.<\/p>\n
However according to Ismanu, the government should give a
\ntransitional period of up to 15 years especially for small-scale
\nentrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
Ismanu said cigarette companies in general were still using
\nsimple technology so the tar and nicotine levels of their
\nproducts were still high. Smaller scale enterprises in particular
\nwould suffer the most because they lack the technology and the
\ncapital to comply with the standard.<\/p>\n
Ismanu said that special treatment and dispensation should be
\ngiven for handmade clove-blended cigarettes.<\/p>\n
"We from Gappri want handmade kreteks (clove-blended
\ncigarettes) to be treated as a special case, like cigars, because
\nit is impossible to comply with the standard they want," he said.<\/p>\n
Ismanu said that the government had been inconsistent in
\ndealing with cigarette producers.<\/p>\n
On one hand the government wants cigarettes to be limited, on
\nthe other hand it wants the industry to pay as much excise tax as
\npossible to finance state budget.<\/p>\n
The government expects Rp 10.3 trillion ($1.14 billion) income
\nfrom excise tax this year, and Rp 16.3 trillion in 2001.<\/p>\n
As of September 2000, Gappri recorded production of 168.3
\nmillion cigarettes and paid Rp 9.9 trillion in excise tax, Ismanu
\nsaid. (tnt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-mulls-review-of-nicotine-and-tar-limits-1447893297",
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