East Java Kadin Urges Health Ministry Regulation to Consider Tobacco Industry Sustainability

The East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) hopes the Draft Minister of Health Regulation (RPMK), a derivative of Government Regulation Number 28 of 2024, will consider the sustainability of the tobacco products industry (IHT). East Java Kadin Chairman Adik Dwi Putranto stated in Surabaya on Wednesday that the draft regulation includes provisions on plain packaging without branding, restrictions on tar and nicotine levels, and a ban on certain additives in tobacco products. He said the policy must be discussed comprehensively by involving all stakeholders because the tobacco sector has a strategic contribution to both the national and regional economies. The sector supports the livelihoods of more than 90,000 direct workers, approximately 387,000 tobacco and clove farmers, and thousands of micro and small enterprises. It also contributed Rp14 trillion in local tax revenue and Rp3.57 trillion in Tobacco Excise Revenue Sharing Funds in 2024. This strategic position makes the tobacco industry an integral part of the economic chain, from upstream to downstream. Meanwhile, Nugraha Prasetya Yogie, Senior Industry Advisor at the Ministry of Industry’s Directorate of Beverage, Tobacco Products, and Refreshing Materials, noted there are around 1,700 tobacco industry business units in Indonesia, 87 percent of which are small and medium industries. He warned that implementing the regulation could increase the circulation of illegal cigarettes, with a potential minimum loss of Rp31 trillion from the current 13.9 percent illicit trade share. The Ministry of Health has stated that the regulation on standardised packaging and additive bans is part of efforts to strengthen public health protection, particularly for adolescents and children, and that the draft was prepared with input from various ministries, agencies, and stakeholders.