Cigarette makers defy regulation, activist says
JAKARTA (JP): Cigarette manufacturers remain defiant of government regulations enacted to curb the hazardous content of their products, a medical association activist said on Tuesday.
Chairman of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) Merdias Almatsier said that cigarette producers had been using irrational excuses not to comply with government regulation No. 81/1999 which stipulates a maximum nicotine content of 1.5 mg and tar content of 20 mg in each cigarette sold in the country.
"They (the manufacturers) said they will no longer be able to buy tobacco from local farmers," Merdias said. Local tobacco is known to have a high level of nicotine.
Merdias said that the reason was unacceptable since a new planting method to control the nicotine content in tobacco had been developed.
Merdias was speaking on the sidelines of a two-day workshop organized by the National Committee to Contend Smoking Problems.
Activists from various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and professional associations attended the workshop which was sponsored by the World Health Organization.
The regulation gives machine-made cigarette manufacturers two years from its issuance to comply with the ruling, while large and small scale handmade cigarette producers have five and 10 years respectively.
A violation of the ruling carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a Rp 100 million fine.
Merdias said about 57,000 people in the country die from diseases stemming from smoking cigarettes annually. The number contributes to the world annual figure of 3 million.
The government earlier planned to impose an excise tax based on nicotine and tar content before April 1, but manufacturers, especially clove cigarette producers, said the policy would lead to bankruptcy and mass layoffs.
They also said that the policy would only benefit multinational nonclove cigarette producers whose products already had relatively low tar and nicotine contents.
The government backed down from its plan and set a new tax system based on production volume, only to raise strong protests from cigarette makers, including PT BAT Indonesia.
Smarting from the negative response, Director General of Food and Drug Control Sampurno suggested a new approach to reduce smoking habits by creating anticigarette advertisements.
He said opening a frontal opposition to cigarette manufacturers could draw strong protests from tobacco farmers and cigarette manufacturers' employees.
"I just received a group of people who claimed to represent an NGO, who threatened to hold a massive rally if YLKI (the Indonesian Consumers Foundation) continues with its plan to file a class action," Sampurno said.
YLKI had threatened to file a class action against cigarette producers if they remained reluctant to accommodating the 1999 regulation. (08)