Tobacco Workers Fear Mass Layoffs as Plain Packaging Proposal Resurfaces
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Tobacco industry workers are fearing a wave of layoffs following the government’s public consultation on the draft Health Ministry regulation regarding health warnings, a derivative of Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024 (PP No. 28/2024).
Workers represented by various organisations stated the Health Ministry-initiated public consultation took place on Monday, 25 May 2026, focusing on standardising cigarette packaging, commonly referred to as plain packaging.
Henry Wardhana, Chairman of the Tobacco, Food and Beverage Workers’ Federation of the All-Indonesia Workers’ Union (FSP RTMM-SPSI), said the draft regulation (RPMK) could further tighten the tobacco industry’s business environment. He rejected the proposed rules due to their direct impact on workers.
“We reject the RPMK that does not incorporate views from other sectors, given its significant socio-economic impact,” Henry stated in a written statement, cited on Tuesday, 26 May 2026.
The public consultation held yesterday was the third such session, with discussions still centred on standardising packaging through uniform colours, packaging standards, and regulations on advertising and social media.
Henry warned that if the RPMK provisions enforce packaging standardisation, it would directly affect six million workers in the tobacco industry. He stated that standardisation would force efficiency measures, inevitably leading to mass layoffs.
“The Health Ministry’s changes to the RPMK’s health warning provisions entirely fail to anticipate socio-economic impacts,” he stressed.
Similar remarks were made by Heri Susianto, Executive Chairman of the Indonesian Tobacco Industry Society Forum (Formasi). He argued that the Health Ministry’s push for packaging standardisation is based on non-tobacco-producing countries, making it unsuitable for Indonesia.
“Indonesia is a tobacco producer; it should not be compared to Singapore and Thailand, which have implemented strict packaging standards. Intellectual property rights are being violated under the RPMK,” he added.
Therefore, he believes the government should focus on implementing stronger health warnings on packaging, as mandated by Government Regulation No. 28 of 2024, rather than revisiting plain packaging rules.
“The health warning provisions under PP No. 28/2024 have been expanded to include packaging standardisation. Our input has been disregarded, making the process unnecessarily complicated,” Heri said.
It was previously stated by Deputy Minister of Industry Faisol Reza that the government would not enforce uniform cigarette packaging. He confirmed this during a discussion with the Deputy Minister of Health.
Faisol said he had discussed the matter with the Deputy Minister of Health and was open to scrapping the plain packaging proposal.
“I specifically discussed with the Deputy Minister of Health to ensure the tobacco industry operates smoothly. He is open to it, including the plain packaging proposal not being implemented,” Faisol stated in Jakarta on Thursday, 8 May 2025.
The former Chairman of the DPR’s VI Commission (2019-2024) added that despite ongoing discussions on uniform packaging, the government is mindful of the tobacco industry’s significant contribution to national revenue and is committed to ensuring its stability.
“We understand the tobacco industry contributes substantially to GDP through taxes and other means,” Faisol stressed.