Rejecting Plain Packaging for Cigarettes: Strengthen Education, Not Kill the Industry

Jakarta - The Chairman of Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Mukhamad Misbakhun, has deemed the Ministry of Health’s plan to draft a Ministerial Regulation on Tobacco Product Packaging as highly inappropriate. He warned that if realised, the policy would have a massive impact on the industry, potentially striking the entire tobacco economic chain from upstream to downstream. This is because the policy could erase product identity, weaken the competitiveness of the legal industry, and open the door for a surge in illicit cigarette circulation.

Misbakhun noted that state revenue from tobacco excise currently reaches Rp 221 trillion. Furthermore, six million people are involved in the tobacco industry and its products, from agriculture to trade. He argued it is profoundly unfair for this industry to be continuously pressured by such burdensome policies. “There is an economic chain worth Rp 300 trillion. And the industry that is treated most unfairly is the tobacco industry. The tax structure for cigarette factories is currently exempted from cost burdens,” he explained during a CNBC Indonesia Coffee Morning event titled “Dissecting the Uniform Tobacco Product Packaging Regulation” on Thursday (9/7/2026).

This is evidenced by the Director of the Agro-Industry Downstream Division at the Ministry of Industry, Merriyanti Punguan Pintaria, who stated that the contribution of the tobacco products industry to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 4.05% in the first quarter of 2026. She said the regulation could further hinder GDP growth from the tobacco products industry. “Now, what have we done to strengthen or implement the policies we have already adopted? The tobacco products industry has agreed to follow the policies we have launched and adopted,” she stated.

Merriyanti argued that efforts to reduce the number of smokers in the community could be achieved through education, as regulations like the RPMK impact various aspects. “Frankly, we in the government have not yet seen efforts to educate the children we are striving to raise as healthy individuals for Golden Indonesia 2045,” she explained. She expressed hope that education could be enhanced so that children understand the health impacts of smoking. “We from the Ministry of Industry hope for a balance between the economic pillar and the health pillar. We are not only prioritising industrial growth; we are equally committed to maintaining the quality of public health in Indonesia,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Director of Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, explained that the standardised packaging rule is not solely a Ministry of Health intervention to reduce the number of smokers. She stated that the Ministry conducts various educational efforts for the public. “There are many things we can do, such as supporting people who want to quit smoking, educating the public so they understand the dangers of smoking, and teaching people about their choices and priorities,” Siti revealed.

However, she stressed that the implementation of Government Regulation Number 28 of 2024 aims to protect children from smoking, as adult smokers can take responsibility for themselves. “With this data on 13 to 17-year-olds, this is the vulnerable group that must be protected by the Ministry of Health,” she said.

The plain packaging discourse is not the only challenge facing the tobacco products industry. The sector must also contend with other proposed restrictive regulations, such as limits on tar and nicotine levels and a ban on additives in tobacco products, which could kill the sector. Sudarto, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the FSP RTMM SPSI, added that the RPMK and various other regulations will put pressure on the industry and impact its workers. “Our task is to provide space for welfare to grow, but various government regulatory policies are actually hindering the development of workers’ welfare, even leading to the risk of layoffs,” he said. According to Sudarto, the relationship between workers in the kretek sector is based on piece-rate wages, making them vulnerable when various policies affect their income. “If the goods produced decline, automatically the wages received also decline. So, from a decrease in welfare to the risk of termination of employment, this must be endured by workers,” Sudarto voiced his concerns.