Looming law on smoking threatens small-scale cigarette producers<\/p>\n
By Tasrief Tarmizi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (Antara): In the near future, the Indonesian
\ngovernment is due to issue a regulation that will probably reduce
\npeople's freedom to smoke.<\/p>\n
The government regulation will be the first one aimed at
\nminimizing the health hazards of tobacco, both to the smoker and
\nto the public in general.<\/p>\n
The law is being drafted by experts from various professional
\nbackgrounds and officials from related government agencies.<\/p>\n
News about the plan to issue the regulation has received an
\nenthusiastic response from the public. Experts and officials
\nrecognize that tobacco has become one of the main killers.<\/p>\n
Health experts and cigarette producers are at odds on
\nfinalizing the regulation as both are fighting to stand by their
\npositions. One of the debates most hotly disputed is Chapter 4
\narticle 1 on the allowable nicotine and tar content in each
\ncigarette. The government has set the limit at 1.5 mg for
\nnicotine and 20 mg for tar.<\/p>\n
Another issue debated is that Chapter 46 allows a grace period
\nof five years for producers using machines and 15 years for those
\nmaking cigarettes manually.<\/p>\n
The future law also regulates and controls the production and
\ndistribution of cigarettes. It requires the producer and importer
\nto provide warning labels on each package about smoking-related
\ndangers to health. Cigarettes will be available only at places
\ndetermined by local governments, which have the authority to
\nsupervise tobacco promotion and determine no smoking areas.<\/p>\n
Statistics released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in
\n1998 revealed that there were 669 producers of clove-blended
\n(kretek) manufacturers grouped in the Association of Indonesian
\nCigarette Producers (GAPPRI). They employ about 226,000 people,
\nand have a combined production capacity of 356,100 million
\ncigarettes a year.<\/p>\n
Producers of non-clove blended cigarettes grouped in Gaprindo
\nnumber 11 and employ 2,494 people with a combined capacity of 87
\nmillion cigarettes per year.<\/p>\n
Machine-rolled clove-blended cigarettes comprise 65 percent of
\ncigarettes on the market and the manually rolled cigarettes
\nrepresent the other 35 percent.<\/p>\n
Cigarettes with low nicotine and tar content (below 1.5 mg and
\n20 mg per cigarette) account for only 1.6 percent (2.1 billion
\ncigarettes) for machine-rolled cigarettes and 2.8.2 percent (9.2
\nbillion) for manually produced cigarettes.<\/p>\n
Gatot Ibnusantoso, the director general for chemical industry,
\nagronomy and forest products, said the 1.5 mg nicotine and 20 mg
\ntar benchmark was set in accordance with the international
\nstandard for non-clove cigarettes.<\/p>\n
The standard is apparently not entirely suitable for
\nIndonesia, where 87 percent of cigarettes on the market are
\nclove-blended. The kretek is made of tobacco with cloves and has
\na high nicotine content. Not only nicotine but also tar levels
\nare high.<\/p>\n
The right nicotine and tar content for each cigarette type
\nshould be different. This requires intricate debates involving
\nthe lawmakers and cigarette producers.<\/p>\n
Producers of the manually made kretek, who are mostly small-
\nscale entrepreneurs, will find it difficult to comply with the
\ninternational standard due to the lack of technology and capital.
\nIf the government insists on enforcing the policy, it is feared
\nthat the death knell will be sounded for small-scale
\nentrepreneurs despite the 15 years grace period.<\/p>\n
\"It could also bring political and social problems,\" Gatot
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He believed that the draft law focused on issues such as
\n\"smoking ethics\" and where people were allowed or not allowed to
\nsmoke.<\/p>\n
Assistant to the coordinating minister for economy, finance
\nand industry, Syafruddin A. Temenggung, said the debate on
\nfinalization of the bill involved delicate issues. For example,
\nalthough tobacco poses great health hazards, it contributes a lot
\nto the country's economy in the form of taxes and employment.<\/p>\n
He proposes that those involved in drafting the regulation
\nfind a win-win solution: maintaining the cigarette industry as an
\nimportant source of income, but minimizing the danger it poses to
\npublic health.<\/p>\n
It is estimated that the cigarette industry will contribute
\nabout 10 trillion (US$1.2 billion) in taxes to the state coffers
\nthis year aside from providing employment for thousands of
\npeople.<\/p>\n
A World Bank expert estimated in 1990 that Indonesia, where
\npeople smoke more than 200 billion cigarettes per year, has to
\nspend some Rp 14.5 trillion to deal with smoking-related
\ndiseases. As a comparison, the Indonesian government spends Rp
\n1.7 trillion a year in the health sector.<\/p>\n
Official statistics reveal that deaths caused by smoking-
\nrelated diseases accounted for between 2 to 3 percent of the
\ntotal mortality rate in Indonesia in 1980. It rose to between 3 t
\nand 4 percent, or 57,000 deaths a year in 1986.<\/p>\n
Experts say the cause of some 25 diseases can be traced to
\ntobacco, such as bronchitis, coronary diseases, strokes and
\nimpotence.<\/p>",
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