Indonesia tobacco treaty update…
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Indonesia Refuses to Sign Tobacco Control Convention
21 June, 2014
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The government has decided not to sign Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to protect the country’s tobacco industry, an official said as reported by Antara News.
The decision is not temporary but it is effective as long as there is still agency wanting to protect the industry, director of beverage and tobacco industries at the industry ministry Faiz Ahmad said.
Faiz said support for the policy to maintain tobacco industry has diminished leaving only the industry ministry and the trade ministry are for maintaining the existence of the industry.
The president also refused to sign FCTC as there is still no unanimity among the government agencies on the FCTC, he said on the sideline of his visit to the Barito cigarette factory in the village of Gondosari, sub-district of Gebog, Kudus, together with a group of legislators from the Commission VI of the House of Representatives.
In addition, there was a letter from the House asking the government to postpone signing or not to ratify the FCTC, he said.
As the FCTC is not signed, the existing regulation on tobacco industry will remain effective, he added.
If the government ratified the FCTC, Indonesia has to be abide by the references as set by it which means raising the tobacco excise as high as possible, he said.
Even now many cigarette factories are already out of business because of high production cost as a result of high excise duty.
“Clove flavored cigarette industry is a heritage that has to be protected,” he said.
21 June, 2014
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The government has decided not to sign Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to protect the country’s tobacco industry, an official said as reported by Antara News.
The decision is not temporary but it is effective as long as there is still agency wanting to protect the industry, director of beverage and tobacco industries at the industry ministry Faiz Ahmad said.
Faiz said support for the policy to maintain tobacco industry has diminished leaving only the industry ministry and the trade ministry are for maintaining the existence of the industry.
The president also refused to sign FCTC as there is still no unanimity among the government agencies on the FCTC, he said on the sideline of his visit to the Barito cigarette factory in the village of Gondosari, sub-district of Gebog, Kudus, together with a group of legislators from the Commission VI of the House of Representatives.
In addition, there was a letter from the House asking the government to postpone signing or not to ratify the FCTC, he said.
As the FCTC is not signed, the existing regulation on tobacco industry will remain effective, he added.
If the government ratified the FCTC, Indonesia has to be abide by the references as set by it which means raising the tobacco excise as high as possible, he said.
Even now many cigarette factories are already out of business because of high production cost as a result of high excise duty.
“Clove flavored cigarette industry is a heritage that has to be protected,” he said.
Indonesia to Seek Compensation From US in Tobacco Spat
July 27, 2013
By Agence France-Presse
By Agence France-Presse
Indonesia will seek compensation from the United States for pulling its clove cigarettes from shelves despite a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that deemed the ban discriminatory.
Indonesia’s trade ministry said it had lost between $200 million and $300 million annually from the 2009 ban, aimed at helping prevent youths from taking up smoking.
The WTO found that the US had flouted trade rules in its health act — under which cinnamon, coffee, grape and strawberry-flavored cigarettes were also banned — because it allowed menthol-laced tobacco to stay on the market.
The WTO found in favor of Indonesia’s claims that allowing domestically made menthol cigarettes and not its clove-laced cigarettes was discriminatory.
“We will seek compensation. The procedure under the WTO is if one country ignores the recommendation suggested by the dispute panel, compensation should be discussed,” trade ministry director general of international trade cooperation Iman Pambagyo told AFP.
“It’s baffling how the US, which is always demanding other countries to abide by WTO disciplines and regulations, is now unable to correct its policy, which is clearly in violation of WTO provisions,” Pambagyo said in a statement.
Pambagyo said the ministry had not decided how much compensation it would seek, but that it would reflect losses, estimated at between $200 million and $300 million annually.
Indonesia claimed that the livelihoods of over six million citizens depended directly or indirectly on the production of clove-laced tobacco.
While the WTO ruled the ban was discriminatory, it threw out Indonesia’s suggestion that a ban on flavored tobacco in general was unnecessary, calling the US effort to curb youth smoking “legitimate.”
Indonesia says can’t afford to sign tobacco treaty
12 Jan 2007
JAKARTA, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Indonesia is reluctant to sign a global tobacco treaty aimed at cutting cigarette consumption amid concerns about the impact on the developing country’s economy, the industry minister said on Friday.
Indonesia’s $8 billion tobacco industry supports about 7 million people and accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s tax revenue.
“We are reluctant to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) because the cigarette industry is able to boost the agriculture sector and paper industry,” Fahmi Idris told reporters.
“The industry’s multiplier effect is great as it absorbs a huge workforce and contributes a great share of state revenue.”
The World Health Organization’s FCTC aims to reduce tobacco consumption, including through a ban on advertising and promotion.
Around a third of Indonesia’s 220 million population smoke, with some 90 percent of those choosing kreteks clove cigarettes, whose pungent aroma fills the air from roadside cafes to remote thatch huts.
China, which is the world’s largest cigarette producer, is among countries that have signed the treaty.
China, which puffed away 1.947 trillion cigarettes in 2005, signed the FCTC in 2003 and ratified it in 2005.
“The FCTC policy is conflicting with the government’s policy of pro-poor, pro-job and pro-business,” Idris added.
The minister’s statement came after the sector faced a tough time last year due to weak purchasing power stemming from a period of high inflation.
The finance ministry has forecast cigarette firms in Indonesia would produce 220 billion sticks in 2006, unchanged from 2005 but below a peak of 239 billion in 2000, before Jakarta stepped up its moves to hike cigarette prices.
