House Commission Criticises Proposed Nicotine and Tar Restriction: Deeply Concerning

Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives’ Commission IX from the Golkar Faction, Yahya Zaini, has spoken out regarding the government’s plan to tighten regulations on maximum nicotine and tar content in tobacco products.

He assessed that the policy proposal, part of Government Regulation (PP) No. 28 of 2024 as a derivative regulation of Law No. 17 of 2023 on Health, could have significant consequences for Indonesia’s tobacco products industry (IHT) ecosystem.

“The policy proposal to limit nicotine and tar content is deeply concerning. This strategic ecosystem involves millions of people, from factory workers to farmers,” Yahya Zaini stated in his official statement on Friday, 13 March 2025.

He assessed that overly restrictive limits on nicotine and tar content could potentially destroy the domestic industry, which has long made substantial contributions to employment absorption.

According to him, such policy could increase burdens on business operators and potentially trigger broader economic impacts. One risk highlighted is the emergence of business uncertainty that could result in redundancies and workforce dismissals.

Beyond impacts on employment, Yahya reminded that the tobacco products industry has made substantial contributions to state revenue through excise taxes.

Yahya assessed that these conditions could disadvantage small and medium-scale industries, including the hand-rolled clove cigarettes (SKT) sector, which is known as a labour-intensive industry in Indonesia.

“The regulation must not kill Indonesia’s authentic clove cigarette industry, which is gradually being eliminated through administrative measures,” he emphasised.