Rejecting Nicotine and Tar Limits, APTI Seeks Protection from President Prabowo

The government’s plan to limit nicotine and tar content in tobacco products has met with strong opposition from the Indonesian Tobacco Farmers Association (APTI). The policy, a derivative of Government Regulation (PP) No. 28/2024, is considered a threat to the sustainability of local tobacco varieties and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. Responding to this crisis, APTI has officially requested protection from President Prabowo Subianto.

Mudi, Secretary General of the APTI National Leadership Council, voiced the farmers’ concerns during a stance declaration forum held by Apindo alongside 37 sectoral associations in the tobacco products industry supply chain on Thursday (23/7). He questioned the fate of local tobacco harvests if the regulation is enforced. “The implications for farmers are enormous. If the restriction of nicotine content to below 1mg and tar to below 10mg is forced through and implemented now, what will happen to the farmers? Where will we sell our harvest? So far, 99 per cent of our harvest is absorbed by the tobacco products industry,” Mudi said in a statement on Saturday, 25 July 2026.

Mudi stated that the tobacco products industry sector has proven to be a self-reliant industry capable of absorbing local tobacco and clove agricultural produce. He urged the government to re-evaluate the draft regulation for the sake of the public welfare. “We firmly reject the plan to regulate nicotine and tar limits. The impact will be tremendous. Please, policymakers, think more clearly. We farmers just want business certainty, to work in peace so we can continue our lives. Whether we wait 30 years or 50 years to produce a variety with low nicotine content, no one can guarantee the farmers’ survival. It all depends on the government,” he explained.

This concern is mounting as the majority of tobacco farmers are about to enter the main harvest season between August and September this year. The regulatory polemic has left farmers overshadowed by pessimism regarding the quality, quantity, and certainty of market absorption for their harvest. “It is not easy to change or produce a new tobacco variety with very low nicotine content. How will the preparations be made, what about future governance, changes to fertilisers? Everything takes time and depends on the government’s readiness. It cannot be done just like that; it is the same as telling farmers to die,” Mudi asserted.