Tobacco Industry Leaders Highlight Impact of Cigarette Packaging Standardisation

The Ministry of Health held a public consultation on the draft Ministerial Regulation (RPMK) regarding Health Warnings under Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024 (PP No. 28/2024) on Monday (25 May). Industry stakeholders have rejected the initiative, with Formasi’s Permanent Chairman Heri Susianto stating the RPMK violates legal certainty, benefit, and fairness principles. “The Ministry of Health’s sectoral ego is extremely high. Please don’t create misleading regulations. The mandate of PP No. 28/2024, which should cover health warnings, has expanded into packaging standardisation. Our inputs have been disregarded, and the process is overly complicated. The Ministry must not act arbitrarily,” he said in a written statement.

Heri also criticised the Ministry for using non-tobacco-producing countries like Singapore and Thailand as benchmarks for the RPMK. “Indonesia is a tobacco producer; don’t equate it with Singapore and Thailand, which have strict packaging standards. The RPMK also infringes on intellectual property rights,” he added.

FSP RTMM-SPSI Chairman Henry Wardhana warned of socio-economic consequences, stating the proposed changes ignore potential impacts on livelihoods. “The Ministry of Health’s revisions to the RPMK’s health warning clauses entirely fail to anticipate socio-economic effects. The changes are becoming stricter. The government is aiming for economic growth, but the Ministry must not take this lightly. Please consider the socio-economic impact,” he said.

Henry highlighted that the tobacco ecosystem supports 6 million workers, and enforcing packaging standardisation would lead to mass layoffs. “Stop this public misinformation. Create regulations that benefit the people. Once again, we reject the RPMK as it excludes input from other sectors despite significant socio-economic consequences,” he added.

This public consultation, the third such session, has left most stakeholders disappointed as the draft still includes plain packaging through uniform colours, packaging standardisation, and advertising rules on social media. These provisions exceed Article 437 of Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024 on the Implementation of Law No. 17 of 2023 on Health, which states the Ministry of Health must determine health warning text in coordination with the minister responsible for state finances.