Plain Packaging Regulations Deemed in Violation of Consumer Protection Law

The proposed policy to standardise tobacco product packaging has been deemed a violation of constitutional rights because it limits information on products legally circulating among the public. Public health protection must be implemented proportionally without eliminating the rights of adult consumers to obtain correct, clear, and honest information regarding products purchased by the wider community.

Paido Siahaan, Chairman of the Indonesian Vape Consumers Association (Akvindo), assesses that plain packaging regulations risk contravening the mandate of Law Number 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection. Article 4 letter c expressly guarantees the public’s right to accurate information regarding the condition and guarantees of goods or services on the market.

Paido stated that business operators must include information such as brand, variant, nicotine level, composition, warnings, marketing authorisation, and other important information. “If the packaging is made too uniform to the point of reducing consumers’ ability to differentiate between products, then the policy risks diminishing consumers’ rights to obtain clear and accurate information,” he said in an official statement on Friday (5/6).

Similar obligations also bind business operators to provide transparent product education. This step is intended to avoid misunderstandings at the user level. “So, the issue is not that Akvindo rejects health warnings. We support clear risk information,” he asserted.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the visual restrictions on tobacco product packaging are also feared to limit consumers’ freedom in making purchasing decisions. Vape consumers generally choose products based on specific preferences, including product type, nicotine level, liquid characteristics, flavour, device compatibility, and the manufacturer’s reputation.

If all packaging is extremely uniform, the public will experience difficulty distinguishing between licensed legal products and products that do not suit their needs. The subsequent impact of this loss of product identity could blur legal responsibility when a purchasing error occurs.

He explained that thus far, the law assigns information responsibility to business operators. However, the situation will change if the government forces the removal of other identities on the packaging. When a consumer mistakenly buys a variant or nicotine level due to identical packaging, the root of the problem stems from the design of the regulation itself. Policymakers must share responsibility for the resulting legal uncertainty. “Health regulations must not create new uncertainty for legal consumers,” Paido said.

He also urged the Ministry of Health, as the initiator of the policy, to maintain a minimum information space that consumers must know on the packaging of tobacco products, including vapes or other electronic cigarettes. This crucial information includes brand certainty, variant, nicotine level, material composition, production code, excise stamp, health warnings, producer identity, and a complaints channel. These components are considered important so that new health regulations do not create social and economic problems detrimental to the legal industrial ecosystem.

This is because plain packaging rules risk fuelling the circulation of illegal products, which can more easily disguise themselves on the market. Consumers find it difficult to distinguish one product from another, even though the quality of illegal products cannot be accounted for. To anticipate the impact of the plain packaging rule, Akvindo is preparing several steps, including submitting formal written input to the Ministry of Health. The association is also pushing for a more inclusive dialogue with academics, consumer organisations, and associations in preparing a legal study.

“The Health Law does indeed regulate the control of tobacco and electronic cigarette products, including health warnings, but its implementation must still be carried out proportionally and must not negate consumers’ rights to information,” Paido concluded.

Moreover, the tobacco sector is currently facing various other restrictive policy discourses, including a ban on additives outlined in a Draft Minister of Health Decree as a derivative regulation of Government Regulation 28 of 2024, as well as limits on tar and nicotine levels proposed by a study team from the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs. This situation has sparked polemics and objections from various affected parties, including consumers who feel disadvantaged and whose rights have been violated.