Plain Cigarette Packaging Draft Rule Deemed to Overlook Structural Impact

The Draft Minister of Health Regulation on standardised cigarette packaging has been deemed to overlook the structural impact on the national tobacco ecosystem. State Administrative Law expert from UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Gugun El Guyanie, assessed that there is a fundamental error in the drafting process of the rule, which standardises the font, shape, and colour of cigarette packaging to Pantone 448C. “The main problem is the regulatory context. The health regime dominates, but leading sectors such as agriculture, industry, trade, employment, and excise are not involved fairly and proportionally. Going forward, the impact on the tobacco ecosystem will be extraordinary,” Gugun said in an official statement on Saturday (4/7). He also highlighted that from a legal perspective, the elements of legal substance, legal structure, legal culture, and legal system in the draft rule all overlap with one another. Policymakers are considered not to understand the specific conditions of regions that are tobacco production centres. “The nation’s economic sustainability is threatened. Multiple sectors will suffer negative impacts. There are many small and medium industries, including the hand-rolled kretek cigarette segment, that are at risk of going out of business. From the perspective of legal norm certainty, law enforcement opens a large gap, including for the circulation of illegal cigarettes,” he stressed. The tobacco ecosystem, from upstream to downstream, currently supports around six million workers and contributes Rp217 trillion to state revenue. Gugun believes the Ministry of Health should comprehensively consider the long-term effects of this rule on the economy, sovereignty, and national self-reliance. Chairman of the Association for Pesantren and Community Development, KH Sarmidi Husna, emphasised that policies related to tobacco products cannot be viewed solely from a health perspective. “All draft technical regulations derived from Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024 are important to review together because tobacco concerns the livelihoods of many people, both directly and indirectly. What we fear is that this prohibition will have long-term negative effects that contradict higher laws and regulations,” said Sarmidi. He urged policymakers to review the draft regulation comprehensively by considering all aspects, including scientific evidence regarding its impact on the tobacco community. Sarmidi also reminded that regulatory pressure in recent years has already caused a significant decline in the workforce, and policies that do not thoroughly consider economic impacts will increase the risk of layoffs.