Vape Industry Highlights Plain Packaging Rules in Draft Health Minister Regulation
The Indonesian Personal Vaporizer Association (APVI) has expressed objections to the Draft Regulation of the Minister of Health (RPMK), which serves as a derivative regulation of Government Regulation (PP) Number 28 of 2024 concerning Health. The regulation is deemed to have a wide-ranging impact on various aspects of the national economy, including threatening the sustainability of the MSME sector.
APVI highlighted the policy of plain packaging standardisation for cigarettes, as it will affect the daily operational continuity of MSMEs and national revenue. The proposed regulation strictly mandates the use of uniform packaging with specific standard colours, such as Pantone 448 C, and imposes restrictions on the inclusion of brand identity and commercial product visuals.
APVI explained that implementing plain packaging rules risks erasing brand identity value, which is a fundamental right and an important economic asset for legal industry players who have made long-term investments. “APVI believes that regulations need to be drafted proportionally, implementably, and by considering the balance between public health protection and the sustainability of the national legal industry and the MSMEs within its ecosystem,” APVI wrote in an official statement published via its official Instagram account on Thursday (4/6).
Data from the Ministry of MSMEs notes that the MSME sector has been the main pillar of national economic growth, contributing more than 60% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Shocks to MSMEs could potentially disrupt the 8% economic growth target of the Prabowo-Gibran administration.
APVI’s firm stance against plain packaging has been ongoing for some time. Previously, when PP 28/2024 was first enacted, the Secretary General of APVI, Garindra Kartasasmita, expressed concerns that implementing plain packaging on alternative tobacco products would only create new problems, including increased circulation and consumption of illegal products in the public sphere, as well as creating opportunities for minors to access these products and making field supervision difficult.
“Plain packaging rules will only add new problems. Most G20 and developed nations do not implement plain packaging for alternative tobacco products such as e-cigarettes. Those countries only implement text-based warnings for alternative tobacco products,” explained Garindra.
APVI emphasised that the risk of losing brand identity has direct implications for the weakening of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection for domestic products. The loss of visual characteristics on packaging is also projected to create a wide gap for the increased circulation of illegal products and the rise of counterfeit products in the domestic market.
When all products have similar packaging appearances without differentiators, adult consumers will face significant difficulty in distinguishing official products from illegal ones. This condition could significantly reduce state revenue from the excise sector due to the shift in public consumption to the illegal market without excise stamps.
Excise revenue from e-cigarettes in 2023 was approximately Rp1.93 trillion. This figure increased significantly in 2024 to around Rp2.75 trillion, an increase of more than 40 per cent. Meanwhile, in 2025, revenue is expected to be in the range of Rp2.8 trillion.
The economic impact of plain packaging is also certain to extend to supporting sectors within the industry ecosystem, including the creative industry, advertising agencies, packaging manufacturers, logistics services, and distribution networks.
“In the Public Hearing organised by the Ministry of Health in Jakarta in May 2026, several industry associations presented various notes and concerns regarding several regulatory substances, particularly related to packaging standardisation (plain packaging), the use of Pantone 448 C colour, and the regulation of brand identity,” stated APVI.
Beyond plain packaging, the alternative tobacco industry (IHT) is also facing various discussions on highly restrictive policies, including the prohibition of additives as outlined in the Draft Decree of the Minister of Health as a derivative of PP 28/2024, as well as restrictions on tar and nicotine levels proposed by the study team of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs.
These various regulations are feared to pressure the sustainability of a strategic sector that contributes significantly to labour absorption and the national economy.